Successful Living By Choice, A Journey with Craig Mattice

We Learn Something New About People Everyday, Today's No Exception

2012-01-01T04:04:00.000-05:00

Those of you who have read my book or known me for any length of time may or may not know of my health challenges. That knowledge tends to change one's perspective not only about me but upon themselves and their own life. I've not figured this out but so many people are reluctant to discuss or share their particular health challenges, many of us brought up with the attitude we should not talk about it as it is no one else's business. In reality I feel just the opposite when dealing with mankind and people who may be suffering or hurt especially if we may be of service to them, it is our business. The key is to treat them and the subject with great respect.

It is for this reason I shall share this newly discovered presentation of the many aspects dealing with my personal health circumstances and symptoms. A friend directed me to this YouTube video and I can't tell you the profound impact I experienced. Allow me to now share it with you so we all have a better understanding of the many aspects, variables and unknowns involved in those experiencing similar health challenges. Keep in mind everyone is different and there are no cookie-cutter scenarios. Each person deals with their challenges in their own way. Feel free to comment if you are so prompted and than you for taking your time and watching this video.

This short four minute summary deals with a Japanese medical series dedicated to a young woman named Kitou Aya and the resulting program and movie titled, 1 Litre of Tears. I hope you derive benefit, value and additional understanding from viewing this short video. Should you be further interested, at the bottom I shall post a link to a nine minute more involved YouTube video.

I know this barely scratches the surface of reality. There is so much medicine does not know versus what they would like you to think they know. Many say they have cures and treatments which many more times than not lead to false promises and demoralizing results. As promised, below is the nine minute version if you would like additional perspective. Please, do not hesitate to share you reactions to these videos and the information.

Thank you again for taking the time to learn a little more about what I deal with on a daily basis and the progressive nature of this disease. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me.

A Letter from Jesus about Christmas

2011-12-22T10:54:00.001-05:00

A Letter from Jesus about Christmas

My Dearest Loved Ones,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that, there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... it will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need - spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary - especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one... There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget - I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court.

And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember...

I Love You,
Jesus

I am absolutely convicted by this letter and plead guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all counts. This has caused me to have a paradigm shift in my thinking and point of view as a Christian. May the posting of this letter from an unknown author, provide you with a different perspective to consider as it did for me. This letter places a whole new spin on "Jesus is the reason for the season," would you not agree?

May you all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year.

Go in Peace.

Christmas “IS” the Season of “IS,”- Christ "IS" the Reason and It MUST Be Kept as “IS”

2011-12-05T08:07:00.001-05:00

With the Christmas Season upon us, I hope you will allow me to once again share my real life photo of my appearance as Santa, from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. I wore the true fur Santa hat, red suspenders, green shirt and jeans the whole time in public. The response from children and adults was always unbelievable. You can't tell me people don't believe regardless their age. BUT! This is just one small side of the season. Allow me to state my observations regarding the season and developments in this society which I find highly disturbing.

First Amendment - Religion and Expression

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,…."

One must consider why the founding fathers made this the “First Amendment.” For this and the conviction of my faith I am willing to fight to the death.

A country forgetting its history has no future. It was said that there will not be ChrIStmas trees, rather they will be called Holiday Trees. Some believe we are no longer a ChrIStian Country; it's a country of many faiths. We as Americans must send the message this Country was founded on ChrIStian beliefs and we are STILL a ChrIStian Country. We must stand up for CHRIST!!. Without Christ there would be no CHRISTmas "holiday tree" or any other reason to celebrate!!!!

Do not discount what is happening in this country regarding the attack on ChrIStianity via the civil actions by the few against the faith and traditions this country was founded. As pointed out, we have courts striking down allowing the 10 Commandments displayed in courtrooms, schools not being allowed a pregame prayer, graduation prayer and the list goes on. These attacks will continue as long as ChrIStians allow it. These types of actions have all been foretold and prove further, evil spreads in an environment of apathy. Open one's eyes and see.

I have no problem speaking out on the subject. I refuse to participate in "PC" in any form. As you can see, this IS a serious subject and regardless what IS legislated, Christ IS the reason for the season. It IS what it IS and as ChrIStians keep the season’s as it IS.

I shall pray expressing my faith. I shall strongly state "VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS" because that IS what this time of year IS all about worldwide. I am blessed, my eyes are open and I make the same ChrIStmas wishes and Peace be with you and your family. To EVERYONE a "MERRY CHRISTMAS" and May God BLESS

"NEVER be bullied into silence. NEVER allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept NO ONE'S definition of your life; DEFINE YOURSELF."~Harvey Fierstein. The bottom line: "Take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for YOURSELF in thoughts, word and actions."~Craig Mattice

Finally, on a much lighter note allow me to share this photo which speaks 1,000 words and more, provided by 999,999,999 people, from facebook.

By ‎999,999,999 people

AND this is why you don't text while driving.......

Wishing you ALL a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

"Black Friday" a Day of Misplaced Priorities

2011-12-05T07:33:00.000-05:00

"Black Friday" a statement of this society's misplaced 'want' over the 'need' all around us. I submit we as a society should give full respect to our national holidays as they deserve. “Black Friday” and what it stands for is an affront to the importance and meaning of Thanksgiving. The total motivation is money, greed and disrespect of the holidays and those people required to work the ridiculous hours now established. The result is thousands of families are deprived of celebrating Thanksgiving as it was meant to be, because one or more family members are required to spend the day sleeping to prepare and be at the store for their midnight opening to Black Friday. The solution is to close ALL stores on Thanksgiving and Christmas day allowing these thousands of hard working employees the opportunity to enjoy the holidays with their families.

"Black Friday" a statement of this society's misplaced 'want' over the 'need' all around us. This image below is NOT a line outside a retail store to buy more of what we don't need. From Huffingtonpost .com: Homeless Veterans More Likely To Die On Streets Than Other Homeless People, Study Says.

How we treat Veterans DOES make a difference. "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they PERCEIVE the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation."~George Washington.

Keeping in perspective the following, "As a former veteran, I understand the needs of veterans, and have been clear - we will work together, stand together with the Administration, but we will also QUESTION their POLICIES when they SHORTCHANGE veterans and military retirees."~Solomon Ortiz

This leads me into the subject of this "Occupy Wall Street" protest disguised as an alleged movement. They make no pretense in complaining and making demands, yet they provide no ideas for solutions to the problems they claim or organizational leadership to stipulate their actual course of action and a plan to accomplish their demands. To me they are simply disgruntled individuals who gather together creating more of a problem rather than providing any legitimate course of action to a solution.

In answer to some of their facebook postings, I include this particular example of my feelings on the subject.

Do you see this protesters? If you don't offer solutions to the problem then YOU are part of the problem. Get your priorities straight and begin to contribute to society, because nobody owes you anything. Grow up and take full responsibility for your own life for once!

By Jeff Hansen

Veteran's Day 2011 ~ Dedicated to All Who Have Served ~

2011-11-11T02:52:00.001-05:00

~ Dedicated to All Military Veterans and Families ~

We Thank You!

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." ~ John F. Kennedy

"These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph." ~ Thomas Paine

"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me." ~ Lee Greenwood

Brothers and Sisters in Military Service, We Thank You!

Squeezing Every Moment Out Of Life is Exhausting!

2011-11-05T05:16:00.001-04:00

I know many of you can relate to this, either through your own experience or simple empathy and understanding.

Nothing, especially our health circumstances, ever stays the same for very long. Meeting the ever changing challenges, most of us several times a day, is exhausting in itself. So I ask you, why do we continue to take on new projects? We know and understand we may be chronically ill, totally disabled, on the diagnosis journey and feeling like crap, so "what are we thinking?"

I was not well enough to even attempt to travel to Disney World with my family and that ended up being a very wise decision, which I do not regret in the least. My neurological disease has now progressed to involve my bladder and now my diaphragm and lungs to the point they want to put me on oxygen.

In the midst of all of this, I have been assisting a young neighbor woman who I've known since she was 8 years old, in writing and publishing her first book. This book demonstrates she has wisdom beyond her years. The book deals with one's discovery and journey of belief and faith in their life from the point of view of a young adult. I enjoy every moment working with her, especially watching her progress each day on this project. I am humbled she is honoring me with assisting her through this process and as a resource. This is a very exciting and yes, an exhausting process for me, but well worth the investment on my part.

The big benefit to me is while working on her book and implementing her ideas, I am so focused on the process working on the computer I don't feel the pain or think of anything else. It is a true escape from reality for me. Since I just went through this entire process, being able to be of service to her is making a tremendous difference. She explains what she would like to see and I make it happen. Luckily, someone else is doing the editing of her written material, I just clean it up and put it in format for eventual submission to publish. I find it rewarding and exciting to share my abilities as a service to her.

I know I will only be able to keep up this pace for only so long, but wow, what fun this is, pushing the envelop and for someone else's benefit. For the short time we are here, to be of benefit and service to another with no expectation of return or reward is a tremendous feeling of freedom.

What are we thinking to take on projects like this, regardless our personal circumstances? Is there some need to always do something and in some way to add value to our lives? Like any other time in life it is directly related to being of service to others. Make every moment count. You never know what kind of difference you will make in someone else's life.

A Tough Day Must be Met with a Tough Attitude

2011-10-15T03:06:00.001-04:00

I expect, inside me at least, today will be very difficult, because I say goodbye to my family as they all leave for our family reunion trip to Walt Disney World for 7 days. My health has reached a point this type of travel is no longer possible and may even possibly be severely detrimental overall to my survival. The final decision was up to me and my wife, however, my doctor very strongly stated in his medical opinion with the severity of the potential problems, he would/could not recommend the travel.

When I look at the results of our 16 day Hawaiian cruise, followed by the holiday travel and then our 7 days at the beach; even my Army Airborne/Ranger attitude of suck it up and get the mission objective accomplished, doesn't help. The price is too high and the final results in the big picture too dangerous, regardless of the resort's accommodations and family understanding. I am completely out of my routine and familiar surroundings. The information overload leads to confusion, disorientation and imbalance. Severe chronic pain, severe spontaneous exhaustion, cumulative sleep deprivation all on top of the side effects of the narcotic medications does not bode well for a happy successful travel experience. I know this, realize it, understand it, will adapt to it, don't like it because of the implied finality of my circumstances and ironically, I am at peace with the decision.

Things will never again be as they were in my life. I do not pine away in mourning, self-pity or living in the past, but rather evaluate, adapt, and overcome in creating an entirely new life for myself. That life is very short with the progressive degeneration so my situation is in constant flux. It all boils down to one simple principle in life and that is I have the absolute power to "choose" how to respond

to the changing situations. I choose life and living to the highest level I can reach. Like I said, it is a "simple' principle in life but it is not an "easy" principle to execute.

I am blessed to have a couple of good friends willing to invest their time each day to stop by and check on me. Their times will alternate so I will have some one stop by in the morning, afternoon, and possibly the evening. This is a major comfort to my wife to wanted desperately to stay home with me. I emphatically rejected the idea feeling it more important she be with our grandsons for their first flight; major hotel resort; Disney; and Universal Studios World of Wizardry experiences.

All of which will be remembered for the rest of their lives and she was there for it. And THAT my friends is my personal reward out of all of these circumstances.

Disease, Disney, Death and Living On

2011-10-07T04:01:00.003-04:00

I know, a very strange and foreboding title for any blog post. Unless you link it to a happy Halloween scenario. That not being the case, all three have to do directly with my current status and I felt an update was due.

As no surprise the progression of my disease has not slowed, only taken on new manifestations which have become more difficult on a daily basis. Many aspects of my daily living activities have now been totally affected from personal habits, dressing,mobility around the home, getting out of bed, transferring from chair to wheelchair and attempting short distances with the forearm crutches. And with all that, experiencing several falls in the last month, sometimes doing damage to myself and others damaging doors, walls while scaring the hell out of my dogs.

As a direct result of the impact and how these symptoms are affecting me I still went on our yearly week at the beach and did not fare well. In addition, my doctor has now discovered and area of concern above and beyond the neurological and brain disease resulting in many X-rays, complete blood work ups, urinalysis, ultrasounds and most recently a CT scan. All contain no surprises and negative results causing even more concern. You will be happy to know the results of the ultrasound showed I was not having twins, not even pregnant and no uterus could be found. This because someone ordered the wrong tests for the ultrasound. My next adventure is to my Urologist. You know, the guy his one finger on the pulse of American males? Oh joy!

The bottom line, being in a position to travel on our family reunion trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios for seven days. The final determination is an emphatic, "Definitely Not!" I will spare you the details of variables and potential health related results should I even attempt it. I was not surprised at this conclusion. More tests and evaluations to come and still facing the unknown on a daily basis.

My finality in this life has really hit home this week with the loss of Steve Jobs of Apple and having to openly admit and say, “I will never be going back to Disney World again.” WOW! It seems there is constant daily adjustment to my health circumstances. Enough on that subject.

For those of you who have read my recently published book, Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life, you will fully understand the significance of this weeks highlight for me. After a great deal of searching I located and purchased "THE" Mickey Mouse Cookie Jar.

Is that not "AWESOME" or what? We are so excited to have found this specific one which was last made in 1980. Would you agree it is much more fun and attractive than the alternatives?

My book is doing unbelievably well to my surprise, especially from a guy who really doesn't know what he's doing. The book is available in paperback by order almost everywhere and in the Kindle Edition through Amazon.com. I am in the midst of cleaning up the Description and Editor Reviews on the Amazon site and should be completed within a couple of days.

Finally, since I will not be going to Disney World, I've given my wife a wish list and have even purchased an item here in Virginia that may not even be carried in the Disney Stores on site. This is the new Mickey Mouse key chain and very impressive. I've had my last small one since 1998 and it really shows the wear. Here is what the new heavy duty key chain looks like.

In celebration of Steve Jobs life, allow me to quote him. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ~ Steven Paul Jobs ~

Thus so eloquently sums up the key principles to success, happiness, and prosperity. How? By simply not giving permission and allowing others the power over one's life and energy contrary to what one's gut and conscious is screaming. Mr. Steve Jobs changed this world in more ways than with technology and we all thank you. Peace be with you and your family.

We are here but for a moment; but oh what a moment we can make would we only let go, ask and freely accept He who has always been there with us. In the mean time I am "Living On." What does that mean? Living Life On My Terms, No Excuses, No Regrets!

This IS America, Expect to BE an American

2011-09-15T15:44:00.005-04:00

This message hit HOME for me and I believe should be echoed throughout the United States, especially Congress and the Senate.

AWESOME words.....!
Very interesting approach for a principal!
High School Principal

Every concerned citizen should read this. . .

We watched Dennis Prager of Colorado, along with Sara Palin and Tom Brokaw on TV a couple of weeks ago....what a dynamic, down to earth speaker. Even though Palin and Brokaw were also guest speakers they did little but nod and agree with him. This is the guy that should be running for President in 2012!

A Speech Every American High School Principal
Should Give....

By Dennis Prager.

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American.

This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America , one of its three central values -- e pluribus Unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by America 's values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.

Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America 's citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English --but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when used by one black student to address another black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you.

Pass this along if you agree. . . .

The Flag of the United States of America

www.patrioticon.org

Could This New Inspirational Motivating Book Go Viral?

2011-08-27T05:21:00.001-04:00

The news of my new book, Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life: Craig recounts his story of coming to terms with total disability and outlines specific advice that helped him along the way, is spreading at an unbelievable rate and totally unexpected on my part. Although, I must admit several people, "in the know," warned me this would probably happen with my book. By the way, when you visit Amazon.com, make sure you click on the last three small images below the main book cover image. Trust me, you will enjoy what you see.

A pre-eminent Network Marketing industry website and forum, MLM.com, where I've been a member for more years than I can remember, received a request from another member to share my news. That was all it took and the news spread like wildfire. They have created a complete feature around the published release of my book. I invite you to visit their site's home page and just follow the links. They have done an amazing job, to say the least.

During this feature project development I was asked to write a press release. Me? A press release? Man! I have never written a press release, much less had occasion to read that many in my life. You know me, off I go to research the Internet resources highlighting Google searches. It took me over two hours to have enough information and then specializing in book release press release category.

While I'm working on learning about book press releases, I get another email asking for a completely current bio with photo for them to include. Well, here is the link and you can judge for yourself. It is obvious they used someone else's photo, who appears much better looking than I.

Author's Biography MLM.com

Below you see the fruits of my bumbling labor of taking a shot at writing a press release. I hope you enjoy the experience and possibly get a laugh out of reading the final results.

Totally disabled first time writer shares his lessons to cope with life’s challenges through personal and humorous experiences

For Immediate Release

Author: Craig Mattice

Publisher: CreateSpace

Contact: Craig Mattice

Phone: 804-XXX-XXXX

RICHMOND, VA, August 26, 2011: You know how you see some of the most successful and happy people are dealing with the most unbelievable challenges and adversities working against them? Then you find yourself asking, “If this guy is successful, happy and fulfilled dealing with his challenges, how does he do it?”

Craig Mattice penned a “slap-you-in-the-face and wake up” inspiring book titled, “Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life,” making you ask, “What is his secret of coping with so many adversities, yet he is enjoying life to the fullest?” Craig recounts his story of coming to terms with total disability and outlines specific advice that helped him along the way. He is a survivor going from highly physically fit as prior law enforcement, specialty trained military and long distance runner, to dealing with doctors for almost 11 years before receiving a definitive, yet terminal diagnosis. He is also a survivor of a near-fatal brain stem stroke, yet he has continued to design his life by dealing with adversity through learning to evaluate, adapt and overcome.

Craig has coined a personal motto of “Living Life on His Terms, No Excuses No Regrets.” He has para-sailed over 1,000 feet high, bungee jumped from a 140 foot tower by his ankles and even scaled the top final two tenths of a mile of a 10,000 foot mountain volcano in Hawaii using crutches, all since becoming disabled.

He generously shares his knowledge and experiences with others through his blog, on forums, the Internet and now writing this motivating book. Craig demonstrates we have the power to control our response to adversity. His time is short, but that has not stopped Craig from “Living Life on His Terms.”

This book is actually making a difference in people’s lives who read it and get the messages contain within the covers. The responses to his book have been unbelievable judging by the comments received such as, “I couldn't wait [to get the book] and then I couldn't put it down!” “I LOVE your book! Don't think I've ever read anything that quoted Yoda!” “I just about spewed my Lucky Charms all over my keyboard as I was reading your ‘Sharing My Final Wishes’ section of your book.” Finally, “Excellent words, Craig! …… - And by the way - I am loving your book! [I] Had a hard time putting it down!" "I was reading your book on the beach, laughing so hard the people next to me asked me to quite down."

You may find the book sold in print at: www.amazon.com

Full Contact Information:

Craig Mattice

XXXX Stanberry Drive

Henrico, Virginia 23238

804-XXX-XXXX

Personal Blog URL: http://www.aboutcraigmattice.com

CreateSpace eStore Link: https://www.createspace.com/3624897

####

There you go, an entire day's work for presentation on an industry leading website. To say this is very humbling is a gross understatement. Who would have ever guessed this book, originally designed just for the immediate family after I'm gone, would have such a strong positive impact on people. Never underestimate your impact on other people.

Announcing My Book, "Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life" is Available!

2011-08-15T16:36:00.003-04:00

Order the book here!

I am FINALLY happy to announce my new book is available, Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life, is currently available through the attached publishers link. Final approval was given and it is percolating through the distribution channels. It is available at this link as of this afternoon. NOW available on Amazon.com too. I hope you enjoy it, learn a few lessons, and get the message intended. Be prepared for a few revelations you would not expect. Publisher's link: https://www.createspace.com/3624897

Amazon.com link:

Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life - Craig recounts his story of coming to terms with total disability and outlines specific advice that helped him along the way.

I was asked several times by several people to think about writing a book and all I could think of was the "breached labor and delivery" of my college thesis. Not fun or something I desired to experience on purpose. I finally gave in and started the project on January 1, 2011 and today marks the culmination of countless hours of work on the part of several people. In addition, I had to teach myself a complete desktop software program to design and create my own book cover exactly the way I wanted it, not dictated to me by a trade publisher.

This started out simply as a way of passing on information about my life to my children and grandchildren once I am gone. It took on a life of its own. I have no interest in making money, becoming famous, or creating a series of movies including a lightening bolt scar on my forehead. My only desire is people enjoy the book, learn something new, and receive the many messages included based on my personal experience, if they are ready to receive those messages.

I am experiencing great relief, satisfaction, and excitement mixed with anticipation that the effort was well worth it. Do not hesitate to let me know what you think about the book as I would appreciate your insights very much.

I wish you all that Peace be with you.

Under A Lot of Stress Lately? Look At This and Relax

2011-08-11T11:34:00.002-04:00

I've been under a great deal of stress lately dealing with many different aspects of my life all at the same time. This has created quiet a challenge for me on a daily, and nightly, basis. I will not bore you with the details for several reasons.

A few people will be concerned and carry on with the, "Gee, that's too bad."
Many people just don't want to hear about anyone else's challenges.
Many people simply don't care one way or the other.
Finally, the rest are probably glad to hear it and are thankful it's not them.

No! I really don't feel that way or believe it. I would be in real sorry shape if I did, however, I know there are people out there like that, yet there is nothing I personally can do for them. The individual must take full responsibility for themselves and decide they wish to change and make the change. No one can do it for them.

In the spirit of relief, I have found this amazing virtual 3D aquarium, to observer for a few minutes will relax you and change you state of mind. I hope you enjoy it and come back for you daily dose of sanity, as boring as I think sanity may be along with "normal" being grossly over rated too.

Writing a Book is Simple but Not Easy: My Progress

2011-07-14T00:13:00.007-04:00

Not long ago I decided to accept the challenge, and encouraging recommendations, of my family and friends to write a book for my family. The purpose was to leave something of value and benefit behind for my children; as well as allowing my grandchildren a chance to learn about who and what kind of person I was, while learning about life from my perspective.

I was not excited about the process, as I expected it to unfold and having serious flashbacks to writing my college thesis. I hated the steps, the process, the scrutiny, but the final result was exciting and well written. How quickly I learned none of those fears and anxiety were relevant to writing a nonfiction, self-help book involving the mind-body-spirit and hoping to be inspirational in the end.

I am about 94 percent finished with the book as of this date, expecting only to make some additional edits and prepare it for submission to my publisher by the end of July. If the submissions of the book cover and interior are accepted, it will be another six weeks in process before placed into the distribution system. This system includes Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, any online, brick and mortar store and the library system. The Kindle may take a few more weeks before appearing as a selection.

Just for fun, the publisher has provided a webpage allowing a downloadable file in Word .docx, of a short excerpt from the book, for public access. The advantage of the document download is it allows people to see the formatting of italics, bold, and organization of the pages versus straight Notebook style text. After the excerpt there are five short questions that may be answered anonymously, the answers will be very helpful to me prior to publishing.

For your amusement, to satisfy your curiosity, and to provide a glimpse of the direction of this book; I present you with a link to the Publisher's Preview of the book, Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life. https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1084988

I hope you at least have a little fun, possibly learn something new, and peaks your interest enough to read the entire book when it comes out. Enjoy the excerpt.

What We All Take For Granted, We Never Should

2011-07-06T08:40:00.006-04:00

We all have goals, wants, desires, and aspirations for ourselves, family members, and others. To relieve stress many of us go to the gym, for a swim, out for a run, or even a walk. If we are not the physical type we will sit and read a good book, watch a movie, or just sit and listen to our iPod. What is missing from all of the above? Other people. Yes, some of these activities might involve other people in some way, but is it in a way that is meaningful to both parties?

My life has transitioned from one of being in excellent health, gregarious, outgoing, and not being able to sit still for a moment. I always had to have something to do. Regrettably, many times I used work for this something to do and at the expense of my own family. I missed important events in my children's lives, dates with my wife, and even some major extended family events. Why? For my job, of course, which is very important. That file needed to be reviewed, accounts updated, appointments kept even if they could only meet on a Saturday. The day we were suppose to go to Bush Gardens.

I look back now and realize how messed up my priorities were and not knowing the difference between making a living and designing a rewarding life. Things are very different now and it has only taken ten years. Now my children are both grown and living their own successful lives. My wife is still working for the same company she has worked with for the last 27 years and it looks like she will have to work until her late 60's. What have I done? How could I have been so blind and insensitive to what was occurring in my life and the path I was on to be regretful and most of all sorry.

You see, I took my health for granted thinking I would always be in good shape and looking with disdain at older over weight people saying, "I will never be like that and if so, just shoot me." Then the symptoms started and continued to become more diverse and progressive even baffling the specialists. Here I am 10 years later totally disabled due to a combination of neurological and brain diseases and with the worse of prognoses. I am home bound leaving the house possibly three to five times a month and then only when my wife makes me go out. I have constant sleep deprivation, severe exhaustion and fatigue at the least little effort such as simply taking a shower. My body moves and distorts involuntarily with a mind of its own causing constant spasms and pain. Communication is very difficult now diagnosed with progressive dysarthria. I know what and how I want to say something, but have no control what comes out of my mouth. Every word is a struggle resulting in people not understanding what I'm trying to say and causing serious frustration on my part.
Many of the daily tasks we do routinely without even thinking have become major obstacles requiring focused mental and physical effort to complete. These include brushing my teeth, shaving, pouring a glass of water, eating by keeping the food on my trembling fork hoping it gets to my mouth not on my shirt. Getting dressed has required serious ingenuity in accomplishing this task without falling over. Yes, I spend a great deal of time on the computer, not unlike you. But I require a combination of a one pound wrist weight to control my right hand and mouse, speech recognition software, a 23 inch HDTV monitor because of blurred and double vision. None of this was ever expected 10 years ago because I was in control, good heath, great job which I was highly committed to, and I was never going to get old or fat.

Today, like every single day now, is an overwhelming struggle from hour to hour. Never knowing how I'm going to feel regardless of the heavy narcotic pain and anti-spasm medications. Simply deciding to get cleaned up for the day is a daunting decision process and I find I'm having to ask my wife to do more and more for me that 10 years ago I took totally for granted. The lesson in this article, to take nothing for granted. Teach yourself to actually see with your eyes open, listen to what you hear with your ears, and most of all give others acknowledgement and appreciation regardless how small the act.

Learn from me, take nothing in your life for granted and pay attention each and every day to prevent it from happening. You never know, your 10 years may be just around the corner.

Encouraged Challenge Accepted: I Am Writing A Book

2011-05-18T04:47:00.004-04:00

Over time I've received a great deal of encouragement and many requests to write a book sharing my experiences in light of my personal challenges. This support has come from my wife, children, family, friends, and includes members of my cyber family. People believe I have something of value and benefit to share with others. I took the plunge and began this project on January 11, 2011. The title is, "Evaluate, Adapt, and Overcome: Accept No Limits in Life," "Craig recounts his story of coming to terms with total disability and outlines specific advice that helped him along the way." My goal is to have the project complete and to the publisher by the end of June. In the mean time, I will just go with the flow.

The key principle reasons and motivation behind this book follow, "Think and Grow Rich," by Napoleon Hill. Allowing others to learn what successful people have done so the reader may duplicate those same principles netting their own success. My reason for writing this book is to share the time, effort, learning from "trial and error" and gaining my experience in life by "doing it the hard way first," taking advantage of learning life's lessons from someone else’s experiences. I was able to learn and apply key principles of living life on my terms.

OK! Here's the bottom line contained within this book, I share what took me a great deal of time, aggravation, heartache and a good deal of money finding ways to make the challenges easier and the results more effective.......the hard way. While accomplishing all this, I was dealing with some serious personal adversity thrown into the mix.

Learning from my mistakes, experiences, principles and methods to overcome a multitude of physical and mental challenges, I've learned we will derive the results we are looking for; rather they are positive or negative. In addition, the hardest most ruthless battles on earth occur within the seven inches between our ears. That is where the war is won or lost.

My hope is you might discover examples and methods to design a life instead of simply making a living, if this is your goal. This worked for me by dealing with adversity through learning to evaluate, adapt, and overcome. Why? Because I now look at life as if there are no problems only challenges. I am guided by some key principles including, “Set no limits and accept no limits," "Do or do not. There is no try." ~ Yoda. We are all limited only by our imagination and by not allowing others permission to determine limits on our lives. I admit, a simple concept to discuss but not easy to accomplish.

Finally, the last chapters, 10 through 12, deal specifically with the proof and demonstration of how I have taken full responsibility for my life. I am living life on my terms regardless of what limits others may try to place on my abilities.

My goal is not to become a famous author, to top the New York Times Best Seller List, or even to make money. If I receive enough positive feedback sincerely indicating further sharing of this book, I will then take steps to place it into full production. My goal is to price it allowing the greatest number of people to be able to purchase and benefit from the knowledge and experiences presented. Like any other type of personal development, if you are on the journey and ready to hear the message you will recognize it when it is presented. This is a book designed for the effective use of a day-glow yellow highlighter. I will keep you informed as to my progress.

Ramblings and Readings During a Stressful Week

2011-05-08T04:37:00.001-04:00

The last couple of weeks have been unusually stressful due to family situations, traveling, and dealing with uncooperative symptoms and medications. Not to mention the continue sleep deprivation and its own challenges. All the while continuing to work on my book. I would like to share a combination of readings and ramblings you may hopefully derive some value from reading.

Reflective thoughts this morning.

Be one whose life is filled with love and beauty;
Be grateful for each experience in one's life;
Be divinely guided and protected;
Be excited to be alive;
Believe all things are possible;
Be loved and love;
Be happy, share the universal greeting card with everyone, a smile;
Be one who makes a difference in this world.

The following include a combination of quotes and comments from my recent morning readings.

Dealing with the perceptions of scarcity vs. abundance in America, "It's not what is available or unavailable that determines your level of success and happiness; it's what you CONVINCE yourself is TRUE." ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer. My observations, scarcity is not the problem. Over abundance of opportunity and lack of decisive ACTION are the problem. "Abundance is NOT something we acquire. It is something we tune into. There's NO scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what YOU love. There is only a scarcity of RESOLVE to make it happen." ~ Wayne Dyer. "Not what we have but what we ENJOY constitutes our abundance." ~ John Petit-Senn.

Never Question Your Impact! "There comes a time in every person's life when a decision is required. And that decision, should you make it, will have a far-reaching effect on generations yet unborn. There is a thin thread that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world."~ David Ponder. Life is challenging and a game where nothing is less important than the score at halftime. I guess the tragedy is not that man loses, but that he ALMOST wins. The difference is distress and calamity produce the greatest men. The hardest steel comes from the hottest fire and the brightest star shreds the darkest night. It's a fine line between ordinary and EXTRA ordinary.

People are constantly looking for themselves everywhere but the most obvious location. All that is necessary for change and happiness in their lives is to start by looking within. "We cannot become what we NEED TO BE by remaining what we ARE." ~ Max Depree. "First SAY to yourself what you would BE and then DO what you have to DO." ~ Epictetus. Finally, none of the above can happen unless, "All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them." ~ Walt Disney.

I hope this gives you pause to think and possibly look at things from a different perspective. We never know what we don't know until someone takes the time to show us and we are open to the message.

Are Your Eyes Open, But You Do Not See Life's Wisdom?

2011-04-18T05:08:00.002-04:00

Are your eyes open but you do not see? Are your ears hearing but you do not listen? We must be always vigilant to the wisdom of life being presented to us every moment and each day. Funny how you can read something one day and nothing particular interest you, yet on another day at another time you can read the same passage or quote and the message hits you between the eyes like a 2 x 4.

Much of our lives are spent dealing with toxic people and situations, yet we do nothing and feel helpless. I learned the answer in my readings which I will share with you covering many areas of our lives. Dealing with toxic people and situations, "Sometimes you've got to let everything go....purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything....whatever is bringing your down, GET RID OF IT. Because you'll find that when you're FREE, your TRUE creativity, your TRUE self comes out." ~ Tina Turner.

Learn to listen to your 'gut feelings' regarding every situation. "Every time I've done something that doesn't 'FEEL' right, it's ended up not 'BEING' right." ~ Mario Cuomo. How many times has this occurred to each of us? We constantly replay this in our minds as the, "if only, I should have," scenario creating "baggage." "Dwell not on the past. USE IT to illustrate a point, then LEAVE IT behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now IN THIS INSTANT of time. From THIS moment onwards you CAN BE an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and POSITIVE in every thought and deed." ~ Eileen Caddy. Boy, does that hit home or what?

At the same time we must certainly learn, "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles....BUT to live in the 'PRESENT MOMENT' wisely and earnestly." ~ Buddha. We all know this skill, talent, innate ability is practiced daily by every child in the world. As we grow older we seem to lose the moment.

This is where we must "relearn" we can re-establish this skill. "Within you right 'NOW' is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can 'CHANGE YOUR BELIEFS'." ~ Dr. Maxwell Maltz. We must take advantage of life and all that it offers each of us by being attentive to our surroundings and human interactions. "There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are BLESSINGS given to us to LEARN from." ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. MAN! I don't know about you but based on this, I feel over educated then.

So, how do we start to go about this live changing transformation? You don't have to wait until something life changing happens to you such as in my case. Simply start today, right now and do as Mother Teresa prescribes, "Never worry about numbers. Help ONE person at a time, and always start with the person NEAREST you." Do you realize the difference such an act will make in each of our lives? Which brings me to a hard learned lesson and almost too late, "To LET life happen to you is irresponsible. To CREATE your day is your divine right." ~ Ramtha.

Allow me to close with a key principle of personal development and self-improvement, which must be realized and understood from the beginning of your journey. "Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only 'WHEN WE ARE READY' to receive it with an open and grateful heart." ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach. To accomplish all of the above is really very simple.........BUT not easy. All good things in our lives require work and sacrifice to be won and appreciated. Just do not wait too long to take this journey.

Life Happens - We Must Meet All Challenges Head On

2011-03-30T02:20:00.001-04:00

Admit it or not, we are all caught up allowing the events and circumstances of life to dictate our lives. Ironically, we all have the absolute power to determine the result of meeting each and every challenge head on. I have recently been reminded of this key principle of living at a point when I reached overwhelming challenges all at once.

I have learned these lessons over many years, yet having these lessons accentuated and thrown, "in your face," just recently. I reached a very low point while trying to continue to push the envelope, not give in, finish the objective and worry about paying the price later. I call this the battle between my ears. However, this has become a two front war dealing physically and mentally simultaneously. I have become weary of the battles where the front lines move daily and many days, move several times within the day. These personal battles appear to have their own rules, constantly changing never allowing me the opportunity to learn these rules. The principle of living one day at a time has now become living each half day at a time and sometimes simply hourly.

To give up is not an option. The greatest challenge I meet today is constantly trying to determine my new purpose in life, which has become very illusive. Dealing with progressive disability, chronic severe pain, sleep-wake disorder and the resulting sleep deprivation is a necessity. Combined with the emotional and psychological toll incurred at the same time becomes over whelming. To that end, I share the following two videos which are instrumental in my personal survival. Learn from them what you may, put the principles in practice but do not disregard the message. Your survival living a life versus making a living are at stake.

"The Race" is an example of the truest principle in life and in it's simplest form:

My favorite and most impactful on my daily life is the video, "Finish Strong." Through amazing stories of courage and inspiration, author Dan Green demonstrates the strength we all have inside. Simple Truths has created this short movie to present the lessons to be learned. I hope you receive the message as strongly as I have, to help you "continue on" in spite of challenges and obstacles.

Finish Strong the Movie:

The original movie is presented by "Simple Truths.com" and may be found at this link: http://www.finishstrongmovie.com/

Continue on fighting the daily battles, one at a time and when things become over whelming, sit back and watch these two videos. Create a positive difference in your life.

Patriot Guard, Protectors of the Fallen Soldier and Doing What's Right

2011-03-04T02:08:00.006-05:00

This situation has so outraged me when seeing it on the news. Then the Supreme Court upholding the Westboro Baptist Church member's rights to these type of protests as Constitutionally protected under Free Speech. I cannot disagree with their legal ruling under the law. I highly disagree with the Westboro Baptist Church members methods, intent, and behavior. All of which fly in the face of the practice of Christianity, Mocking the patriotic honor and respect of and for the American way of life.

If the members of Westboto Baptist Church refuse to back our soldiers in war, let them stand in front of them in battle!

God Bless the men and women of the Patriot Guard and

God Bless America!

Craig & Joyce's Hawaiian Princess Cruise Vacation Journal

2011-02-16T18:34:00.001-05:00

We have finished our Princess Cruise Photo Journal and would like to share it with you. Simply click to enlarge to full viewer and come along with us on our recent Hawaiian cruise vacation. We hope you will enjoy this experience and don't hesitate to leave a comment. Sit back and enjoy!

Prince William County PD Early Days 1976

2011-02-12T10:52:00.001-05:00

These pictures are from 1976, the early days at Prince William County Police Dept. Notice when officers were first allowed to have mustaches? An mug shot of an unknown narcotics suspect. Police Academy training to recognize an auto theft suspect and take preventive action. I'm the Gorilla. Oh, and one photo hang'n out at home off duty. Posted just for fun.

First 4 Officers with mustaches

Me as a young rookie & mustache

Report Writing......My secret love!

Substation Desk Duty with authority

Unrecognizable Theft Suspect?

Academy Anti Auto Theft ID & Prevention

Unknown narcotic suspect's mug shot

Just hang'n out at home off duty

I hope you had some fun seeing these old pictures of me in the early days of the Police Department. Back then there were 55 sworn officers and I knew each on personally. Today there are about 650 sworn officers. I am proud to have been a Prince William County Police Officer and to have honorable served the department and the public. God I loved that work and it is THE biggest personal regret in my life that I ever left to join the Army.

Ever Get Consumed by a New Project or is it OCD?

2011-01-30T09:37:00.003-05:00

It's been an interesting and challenging month which is keeping me very busy. The family just held the first "Great Mattice Clan Gathering" in over four years and it was awesome. Great to see and catch up with everyone, not to mention an unbelievable spread of a huge variety of food and drink. This family does have a propensity to procreate at an unusually high rate. I noticed a serious infestation of rug rats in the house. Some things never change in this family.

Aside from the normal daily health challenges, I'm learning to use a new software recommended by my brother to assist me in using my computer. It's Dragon Naturally Speaking Home version 11. This software is so advanced compared to the Windows 7 Speech Recognition software I was attempting to learn. The timing of this is excellent and here's why...........

As a result of serious encouragement from many sources; wife, family, friends and my internet family, I have started writing a book. The primary purpose is to share the experiences and knowledge I've gained to prevent others from learning the same lessons attending the school of hard knocks. Subjects include "Life's Key Principles Learned," "Learning the Priorities of Living," "Self Improvement," dealing with adversity regarding the aspects of disability and chronic illness. My desire is to write a book providing benefit, value and entertaining to the reader. The tentative title at this time is, "Living Life on My Terms In Spite of Adversity."

This book will be a tad unique in that it contains a compilation of writings I've done in various mediums over several years. The challenge will be bringing everything together with continuity and making sense to the reader. Now, you know this will not be a dry text book type of book since one of the sections is titled, "Sharing My Sick Sense of Humor." There is a great deal of work involved but I have found an outstanding free software called yWriter 5. It is written by a multipublished novelist who is also a 20 year programmer. He has created a software that greatly eases organization of any type of book, article, or even a screen script.

I will attempt to keep you updated here, however the project is highly time consuming and I'm finding it very challenging cognitively, maintaining focus. Imagine my shock when I go to organize and rough edit a chapter, it not looking familiar, then realizing I had already completed the job a week ago. "DUH!" I admit I have no experience at writing a book so I'm learning everything from scratch.

Visit once in a while to check for updates and possibly I'll be posting a few excerpts for you entertainment.

Contrary to Tradition, I Am NOT Wishing All a Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T01:11:00.001-05:00

Living, in spite of adversity!

I am NOT wishing everyone a Happy New Year! I'm wishing everyone a "prosperous and enlightening" 2011. To experience "living" in the new year vs. just getting by in day to day life. To recognize and take action on your "promptings" vs. missing them because of preoccupation. To express "gratitude and appreciation" to all those important in your life vs. taking them for granted.

2011, the year of "designing your life" vs. just making a living.

That is my sincere wish to all of you this new year.

Hawaiian Princess Cruise Vacation

2010-12-29T12:27:00.004-05:00

Craig and Joyce's Hawaiian Princess Cruise

OK Folks! Here it is, the full slide show of the pictures from our 16 day Hawaiian Princess Cruise vacation taken in November, 2010.

I suggest when the Picasa Slide Show starts, go to the bottom and set the speed of photo delay to at least 7 seconds to give you time to read the captions and absorb the full effect of the images.

I hope you enjoy seeing these pictures and get a flavor of how much we totally enjoyed the full vacation experience. We are very happy to be able to share this with you now.

Do Not Give Others Permission to Determine Your Life or Your Personal Limits

2010-12-12T02:21:00.002-05:00

This will be the first post of several I hope to make pertaining to our experiences on our 16 day vacation cruise to Hawaii, a lifetime dream of my wife Joyce.

This was originally my anniversary gift to her to be taken in April 2011. Life takes its own turns sometimes and on the advice or my doctors we were told not to wait, move it up, and take it this past November. The outlook for me by April of 2011 was too questionable. The objective was for me to accompany her and still be at a point physically to allow both of us to enjoy this major life's event together. (Why should I let some other guy have all the advantages and benefits of this vacation just because I was no longer here? Heck with that, right!!)

Our last island to visit in Hawaii was Maui and we went on a full day's excursion to Haleakala National Park, a dormant volcano crater with a summit over 10,000 feet, having the NASA space tracking and three astronomical observatories at the very top. This crater is at a little over 9,200 foot level, 3,000 feet deep, 7 miles around, and a couple of miles across. There appear to be a couple of "ant hills" at the bottom but they are really cinder mounds over 900 feet high.

The essence of my point, many people will tell you, "you can't do something because of whatever." Don't listen to them. Don't allow them to take ownership of your life, set your limitations, neither of which will happen unless you give them permission to do so. Live life on "YOUR" terms and not those set by someone else, regardless of their motive.

We were at the top of the crater and visitor's center, Joyce had me sit on a bench and wait while she was in the gift shop. There is a very steep rugged path leading up 2/10's of a mile to the utmost top where tourist are allowed an unmatched view for those who could make the climb. (OK! You know my attitude by now. For example, they wouldn't allow me to zip-line in Kauai due to my "disability." BUMMER!) I saw a family with a 5 year old coming back down from the summit and I thought, "If a 5 year old can make, so can I." Allow me to share the rest of my experience in pictures taken by another tourist from our cruise, Diane Spainhour of Maryland, USA.

Haleakala Volcano Crater 3,000 Ft. Deep

Joyce and I, the crater in the background

Summit path, NASA observatory on right


Summit, path, and people for perspective

Not a journey path for a disabled person?

"Do or do not. There is NO try." ~Yoda


Contrary to others thoughts and words..


I DID IT! I am "LIVING on MY TERMS!"

Set NO LIMITS! Accept NO LIMITS!

I left it "ALL" on that mountain top.

Haleakala Mountain crater above the clouds. 10,000 ft. high.

Well Guys! There you have it. To answer your question, "YES!" I did get in trouble with Joyce for being so "crazy." But do you know what? I've learned in life it is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I did pay and am paying dearly for this experience. Was it worth it? "YOU BET!" Better to have attempted and failed than to never have attempted at all. Who knows, if you set no limits on yourself or give permission to others to set limits upon you, the sky's the limit!

Not the Birthday I Expected - Wrap Up

2010-10-28T07:41:00.000-04:00

Hi Guys!

I thought I'd stop in and wrap things up for you guys regarding my birthday day.

Not sleeping much the night before, (so what's new, right?), and the doctor's appointment with those results, the rest of the day was challenging. I was able to last until 4:15 PM when my wife got home from work. We were suppose to go out to dinner. That didn't happen! I was totally exhausted and told her I was going to "lay down for a few minutes." Four hours later I stumbled out of the bedroom long enough to take my meds, kiss her and go back to bed.

I get these sudden waves of total exhaustion, weakness, and fatigue I can't even fight through. There is no routine to it at all, thus our family motto, "Just go with the flow." My biggest fear is how will I do on the extended cruise? My goal is to make it the trip of a lifetime for my wife and I've resolved myself to do and tolerate whatever I have to for that to be accomplished. Oh well, one day at a time.

My primary care doctor, the "AWESOME DOC," gave me his card with his home and personal cell phone number along with his home personal email address. He said to use it whenever I felt I needed to and/or have the ship's medical staff to feel free to contact him. This guy is unbelievable!!!!

Now I start to seriously prep for the trip, mentally and physically. I'll keep you guys informed and thank you for your support.

Not the Birthday I Expected

2010-10-28T07:36:00.002-04:00

Hi Guys,

I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, which was my birthday. Who cares, right? Well, at least I'm still here to have one........birthday, not doctor's appointment.

My doctor looks at me, ask how am I doing and follows up with, "I see you've progressed since our last visit." I'm sorry, did I have a choice? If so, I would have gotten a cure before the visit.

He then ask me if I saw a need to continue and see the two specialists? I said I liked them both, they were up front and very good at what they do but no, why see them again. He says, "Good because both of their notes indicate there is nothing they can do for you and released you back to me." So we agree on further treatment.

What does it tell you when a doctor in a very busy, hospital affiliated, family practice walks you out to your car, helps you load your power scooter in the trunk, gives you a big hug and pat on the back, EACH TIME YOU LEAVE? I like to think I have one hell of a great PCP. That's what I think!

We have completed all the necessary medical documentation and sent it to the cruise line medical department. They then forward it to the ships medical staff. I report to them when I board. I told my doctor no big deal, if anything happens on the cruise I know they have big refrigeration and freezer compartments so I won't miss anything and they don't have to give me a refund. I'll just leave with the baggage.

Well, sleep challenges haunt me every night so I am going to crash for my normal 3 hours and cycle again. That's why some of you may notice my postings at 2:30 AM in the morning. I'll keep you informed.

Make a positive impact on someone today!

Successful Living Doesn't Happen Without Other People

2010-10-13T12:45:00.005-04:00

My wife has had a life long dream to go to Hawaii so I decided to give it to her, while I still could and we both could enjoy it.

It never would have happened without Rosemary Danielsen, owner of a CruiseOne travel agency. You may contact her for personal travel needs on all levels and occasions at www.My-Perfect-Cruise.com, (800) 501-2895 or (831) 262-7246, rdanielsen@cruiseone.com. I must highly recommend this young woman, who is an outstanding individual, professional, highly meticulous and detail oriented. She is a concierge, private assistant who doesn't go the extra mile, but the extra galactic light year to grossly exceed your expectations. Oh, and she just happens to own her own professional travel agency. I highly recommend this one-of-a-kind travel specialist.

I was impressed with her from our first email contact leading into many email exchanges and a couple of telephone conversations. Having a travel business background myself, I was impressed she has all of the additional industry certifications at the highest levels. She provided me with seven personal references of previous clients, all of whom responded via telephone or email with glowing reports of her high level of service. These events included complete weddings, multi-generational family reunions, honeymoons, anniversaries and other large group vacations. I joked with her she will never need a ship to cruise on again since apparently, based on the reference's reports, Rosemary can walk on water.

Our trip will be a total first class experience all of the way, including private limo to Dulles International, first class nonstop round trip flight to LAX, pre and post cruise hotel stay in LA, round trip cruise on Princess Cruise Line's Golden Princess to Hawaii and back. We will have a rare handicapped stateroom with private balcony. While in Hawaii we will be stopping at Hilo, Kauai, Honolulu, Maui, and stopping at Ensenada Mexico before returning to LA.

This is a dream come true for my wife and a trip of a lifetime for the both of us. The lesson to be learned here is to not wait to accomplish a dream and spare no effort to locate an outstanding professional to assist you with all of the details. Believe me, I have recommended Rosemary to my family and friends, including a niece who is a wedding planner, and will use her for my future vacation needs.

Can you tell I'm very impressed with Rosemary? If you didn't catch it here is her contact information again.

Rosemary Danielsen

Travel Consultant

(800) 501-2895

(831) 262-7246
rdanielsen@cruiseone.com

www.My-Perfect-Cruise.com

Are You Really Exploiting The "Living of Life?"

2010-10-05T02:00:00.003-04:00

As you may know by now, I spend a great deal of time feeding my mind with positive information. Why? Because I "choose" to live my life receiving the maximum benefit for myself and sharing that with all those I come in contact. I attempt to post a positive quote from something I'm reading or have read on my Facebook page for other people's benefit. Should I get even one person to think about it and change how they live, the effort is well worth the investment.

I recently discovered a very inspirational writing which I'd like to share with all of you. It encapsulates a majority of the philosophies and ideas I learn and present daily. At a minimum you will enjoy it. At a maximum you may experience a paradigm shift in your thinking and thus make some positive changes in your life.

"Living Life" eloquently captures and presents an inspirational journey though life written by Bonnie Mohr. This one you may need to think about and actually "feel" the experience. Enjoy!

Life is not a race - but indeed a journey. Be honest. Work hard. Be choosy. Say "thank you", "I love you," and "great job" to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you've been given, it is not accidental - search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which your aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself - plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment. ~ Bonnie Mohr ~

Allow me to add, "Live as if today were your last. Learn as if you were to live forever." ~ I don't remember who said this originally. I hope you received some benefit and value from this post. One only needs to think about it, decide, then take action to experience major changes in one's life.

Are You Designing a Life or Just Making a Living?

2010-09-29T02:49:00.004-04:00

I accomplished another major mile stone this last week while on vacation at the beach. Not too many years ago I did bunji jumping from a 140 foot tower and loved the thrill. I like living on the edge and to the fullest level possible, especially after being involved in law enforcement and Army Airborne/Rangers.

If you don't already, everyone should have an ongoing Bucket List. A list of things to do before you kick the bucket, so to say. Well, I have one and it is extensive. One thing I hate is being told I shouldn't do something, or worse, I can't do something. So while on vacation I took advantage of an opportunity to stretch and grow a little more, doing something I'd never done before. I went parasailing.

Parasailing is nothing like I expected. First off you only go up to 1,000 feet (by law the maximum in VA), it is very quiet, soothing, fantastic vistas, done in the day time, lasting 10 to 15 minutes, no jungle or trees to worry about, and best of all not having to worry about being shot at once you land. Yea! Quite different!

So, allow me to tell my story in photos, which I'm sure you will enjoy. If you ever get the chance to parasail, I highly recommend the experience. Pick your location well. Remember what happened in the Jurassic Park movies.

Ready for the challenge! NO FEAR! Bring it on!

Boat Captain Ready to Roll

Ready for launch

We have LIFT OFF!

AND RELEASE THE ROPE!

The boat is getting really small!

Just a short swim back to shore.

Mr. Happy is going to eat me!

Is he still up there? Whew!

I think I'll him full release, 1,000 ft.

Ah! Another "victim" out today!

What an "AWESOME" view!

Not getting any closer are we?


Boat, Me, and Shore line.

Time to reel me back in. Too short time!

Coming in flailing and almost home.

My greatest fear, SHARKS!!!

I FAILED the Shark Bait Test!

TOUCH DOWN!

Do You Practice The "One Helping Two" Concept in Network Marketing?

2010-09-10T04:57:00.004-04:00

I recently stumbled upon this "golden nugget" of doing business and received permission to share it with you. I believe it should be required reading for anyone already in the business of Network Marketing and anyone even considering the industry for their business. You just may have to read it twice to fully "get it." Sit back and enjoy the experience.
______________________________________________________
Here's more of my personal observations for your reading pleasure or amusement, whichever applies. Company name has been edited out to remain generic.

One Helping Two

Hi, Charlie Little here. I want to share a concept with you which you may have not heard of before in Network Marketing. I call it simply "One Helping Two" and I will show you how it can and will work to build a strong team within Mine, Ours and Your personal Network Marketing organization.

I believe some major mistakes have been made throughout the years within Network Marketing which have altogether given it a less than desirable reputation. This reputation is what makes it difficult for some to succeed in recruiting new members. If we can't recruit new members and more importantly, get them to stay, then we will not succeed individually or as a group.

Every Independent Business Owner (IBO) within their respective company is the head of his or her respective organization or "downline". We all want a strong downline which will take on such a strength and character as to become independent of us, me and you at the top of our groups and continue to flourish and grow without our added work or input. This is the goal and dream of every person who sets out in any Network Marketing business. We want to earn and be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor and enjoy the freedom we all have so often heard about but never seem to be able to attain right? If one is having to constantly work to keep their group alive then what is the point of ever starting?

It starts with you and what you are going to do which can be easily duplicated by each member coming into your group. This will determine the strength and longevity of your group. It should in fact become a never ending monster that provides for you and your family for generations to come and it all begins with you helping two people no matter what Network Marketing company you may happen to join provided they have some essential things needed to make it possible. Don't miss these...

For any Network Marketing business to succeed down the road and into the future, it must offer products that people need, love and want to purchase repeatedly. Without that it simply will not prosper and bloom into our future freedom. The products simply put are the backbone of your business. The others include a realistic marketing plan by the mother company that everyday people can afford and a lucrative compensation plan to make it worth all the effort.
Ok we're in our company Pre-Launch. Thousands of new IBO's are joining weekly and reports abound of the food quality. It's delicious. We have a winner! People have to buy food and they will love and feel good about sharing it within their families and friends. Even people who only want to purchase the products for themselves and not work it as a business will eventually pass on the word to somebody else, either in casual conversation or at an invited dinner. We all love to spread the word to others about something we did, saw, ate or otherwise enjoyed because we want them to experience the same.

But we want to work to build our business. Enter the "One Helping Two" concept. This is not a new idea in Network Marketing, only forgotten for the most part and has been replaced by technology in the form of websites, webinars, auto responders, group email and the like. Not to totally debunk these methods as they have helped many to build lifetime residual incomes. For many they have failed which is proven by the large percentage of drop-outs in Network Marketing today.

These methods and those who are taught they must use them fail when they are based on half-truths and sometimes right out lies which make the user out to be someone or something they aren't. Oh some have and may "fake it till they make it" and reach the financial status of being able to live up to the claims their materials are full of and they might be able to teach you how to do the same but always at a huge cost to you, the starting out business owner. For the most part though, the methods eventually stall out because people aren't stupid as some would like to believe and they simply do not want to be associated with spreading lies. What you do will be manifested into your organization!

People who can't afford these high tech tools of the trade should not be left out in the cold to fend for themselves. Many who consider themselves "Pro", will not even want you in their downline if you don't follow or can't afford their materials that they will gladly provide for a fee. They are simply milking their own downline

Let me ask you something. Can you forget thinking about the "numbers" for a second and ask yourself..."Can I help two people?" I'm not talking about just getting two people to join your business. This is all some people have been told they ever need to do..."just get two and each of them will get two" and so on...fine and well and it very well may be that easy with our new business just by sharing meals like they say and we have already done but here's where we institute a practice not often seen any more in Network Marketing that will build all our downlines into the strong monster with never ending growth like we want...

We get two, then STOP! Before we do anything else for ourselves, thinking that we actually are helping ourselves we need to stop and help our two get their first two members. As we do this we are actually teaching our original two to do the same thing. Can you do that? It's as easy as being greedy and running out to get as many people we can personally enroll under us and then hoping one or two of them will explode their downline and make us wealthy. The difference is, when we help two get two, it will seemingly magically manifest itself in our downline where all the new members learn to help two. Result...a Full Tree in your back office instead of a sparse, dwindling tree.

Some will not need any help at all getting their first two members but it is still important to instill into them the need to help their two recruit their first two members and to teach them to do the same. As we grow, we can all pitch in every now and then as we see a possible "weak link" within our group by stepping up and helping them to institute the One Helping Two concept if it has been somehow lost in the progression of our downline.

After you help your two get their two and only then, get yourself one or two more and help them like you did before. It really is a "no-brainer" like they say with our company, "Cause and Effect". Sharing something you love with someone you love is as natural as anything can be. Helping them to do the same will build strength and longevity into our group simply because nobody will ever be left alone to fend for themselves and the old saying is true..."Talk is Cheap", in this instance applies in a positive way as word of mouth being the very best form of advertising and it doesn't cost us a red cent!

Mitzy and I are set on helping our personally sponsored members to get their first two members. We're not sure what all our upline sponsors are doing at this time or what they plan to do so It Starts Here with us and passes on to you. We believe it will institute a spirit of cooperation and helping within our downline which will become strong, set on a firm foundation of working together to reach a common goal.

Network Marketing should be what the name implies, a Network. Not you work and I get from you. We all help one another. It doesn't need to cost a small fortune to see a return for our efforts. Talk, helping and sharing are free. God forbid the electricity goes out and we are lost without our computers! Network Marketing is me helping you and you helping one or two and so on. Without that it's something else that has grown into what it has become today. It doesn't have to be! Let's change the face of Network Marketing!

One Helping Two is something we all can do! Let's get to it shall we!!!

To our Success!

Charlie Little
__________________
LittleHomeBusiness.com
________________________________________________________________
Thank you Charlie for sharing this insight and allowing me to bring it to others for their own personal development.

You've Been Too Quiet! What's Going On?

2010-08-30T08:10:00.004-04:00

I know it's been some time since I posted on my personal blog, but not without cause. Please, allow me to share my goings on, experiences, and thoughts on recent events in my life.

Recently, in an attempt to stand by my rights and beliefs of what is right vs. what is wrong, I became involved in an institutional challenge of members with very different ideas of right and wrong. Needless to say, I am not one to just stand by while I believe there is a wrong being perpetrated against an individual or institution. This required a great deal of my time and energy as I was very specific to work within the established protocols of the institution justifying my position with great detail and supporting documentation. I did find it funny that when an nonspecific request was made, without identification of any parties or the specific situation, the guilty, or let's say personally convicted, are the first to yell "foul," expressing abhorrent disgust at the action as being specific to them. In the end, I did all I felt was just and proper but totally frustrated with the speed of, what I believed, was an obvious and decisive action for disposition. So it goes in life. The final decision and action are totally out of my hands and my further involvement would neither add nor take away from the final determination.

As a direct result I had to make a serious decision affecting a deeply felt part of my life and disassociating myself from this institution for many more reasons than I wish to go into on this blog. In the short and long term, I believe a very wise and timely decision directly affecting me and my wife.

Many businesses are maintaining one must "brand" themselves as an "expert" or "guru," thus "attracting" the customers and clients to become successful. I took a totally opposite opinion and point of view in that most people want the question answered, "I'm just an average person, how is this going to work for me?" Approached with honesty, ethically, and pure authenticity, the overall response has far exceeded my expectations.

Now, allow me to become a little more personal in what I share, if I may. Many of you know of my circumstances dealing with my health situation and resulting challenges. I had planned an outstanding gift of my wife's life long dream to go to Hawaii for next April, 2011. We have been seeing some very qualified and outstanding doctors over the last 60 days and after our last major doctor's visit, the decision was made to move this major event up by several months. Time will tell if this was indeed the best decision, yet all involved feel it is in all respects. So I am in the process of accomplishing this major goal.

Finally, I have just this last weekend completed the long labor and breached birth delivery of operating system transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 Home Premium. I will spare you the gory details, but you will get the full impact of the ordeal when I share with you this major and so predictive event. I purchased the software from Dell, thus Dell will totally assist in the transition and installation. My first contact with the Dell Technical Support service person was at 0500 hrs on Tuesday, August 17th, his statement being, "Don't worry Mr. Mattice, we will be done with this in less than an hour." HUH? Had he not read the Microsoft/Windows preinstallation instructions or even worse, had he NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE? Despite my fears I continued forward, later learning this was a big mistake and I should have immediately asked for a supervisor and change of technician. As of today, everything is working well, but not without three additional, 3+ hour each call for support to Dell. The service support is great, "if you get an experienced technician."

This week nothing is scheduled but to recuperate and try to stay away from the computer. My wife assures me I am my own worse PC virus for which there is no known recovery or protection. Each day remains a new and unique challenge unto itself which must be dealt with accordingly. Our family motto continues to be, "Just go with the flow!"

Marketing Paradigm Shift: I am "NOT" a Guru or Expert to "DO" This!

2010-08-04T15:10:00.002-04:00

Have you noticed on the internet and TV how way too many people are marketing "how to succeed in business" you MUST brand yourself as an EXPERT, (or shall I say it), a GURU? This begs the question to all of these people making money off of all of the people looking for "the answer," how many experts and gurus can you have?

Therefore, I have boldly chosen a new path by working with my wife in a new business model, BUT, as an "AVERAGE GUY!" That's right! We are average people, I'm an average guy, albeit with some unique challenges, and we have found a program that covers step-by-step, all the elements to develop a potentially thriving home based business. Our objective it not to get rich, buy fancy cars, a bigger house or any of that "you can have the dream" horse hockey peddled out there. We simply desire to freely travel when and where we wish, create additional retirement savings, and have a means to assist those less fortunate.

What has brought this "Average Person Success" project into our lives? It's a very complex story full of twists and turns, explosive family dynamics, recognizing a new purpose and motivation for a life drastically changed. OK! I'll get to the point here. I was driving my wife crazy and she really desired I find something to do that is challenging, I would enjoy the process, and be of service to other people.

I invite you to follow this "journey" from a direction opposite of the herd mentality going on right now. I guarantee you will enjoy the "process," learn many new things (especially about yourself,) and just possibly change your life in a way never expected. In the end, the final decision is always up to you. Are you up for the challenge?

This entire journey is based on a key principle of success in life and that is "to learn from other people's experiences," good and especially bad. To obtain the desired results of success simply duplicate what makes them successful and do not make the same mistakes. All the while following the program they have established as a total business solution. I simply decided to take advantage of learning from other successful people what led to their success. The key purpose here is I am learning by not making his same mistakes. Bottom line, if an "average guy" like me with my challenges can do this, just imagine what someone of your abilities and talents may achieve.

Now, it's totally up to you. Are you game? Simply follow the links and go through the process. I ask that you experience every step of the process before making a final decision. I would not recommend this without thoroughly researching every aspect to my satisfaction. Now! Let's start this journey and have some real fun!

Regardless Our Known Future, We MUST Endeavor to Live Each Day

2010-07-29T12:20:00.002-04:00

I find it very interesting people's different, and some what limited, thinking of what their priorities are in life and how they should live as a result. We seem to place some of the highest priorities and importance on the most insignificant things in our lives, especially should we look at our everyday decisions and behavior from and eternal point of view.

Recently, I was exposed to a recurring scenario which has always baffled me; in that I am a direct to the point, identify the objective, proceed decisively, and accomplish the objective type of person. End of story. In my experience, I find people will spend more time on the prolifera of options as to how to do something, investing great time with details covering all possible angles, yet never taking decisive action in solving the problem. Yes, analysis paralysis. Which may be compounded by attitudinal sclerosis or hardening of the attitudes.

Allow me this example, please. Gather any number of people, greater than three together, assigned the objective of cutting down a tree perilously leaning to fall on a house. Invariably they will spend the better part of a day in discussion of the right tool(s), point of attack, direction of cut, even consideration of the tree's feelings and potential damage. In the meantime, another individual shows up, evaluates the situation, is determined, decisive, sharpens the chainsaw, and commences to safely remove the tree removing the potential danger to the house. Success in any endeavor is in the "DOING" vs. the discussion and good intentions.

I have reached a point in my life where my frame of reference and filters for decision making have experienced a paradigm shift. This appears to be a totally foreign concept to many other people and I recognize we are all different. I choose to take action and cut down the tree, saving the house, and cleaning up afterwords. Sounds simple in concept and theory but it is "NOT" easy in practice.

Regardless of our personal future in this worldly experience, everyone needs a purpose, as in reason why, to even get out of bed each morning. People need to feel they are making a positive difference. Finding that purpose is the challenge we each face and for some of us every single night and day. Seek to provide value and be of benefit to as many others each day as possible. The number of ways is equal to the number of people on earth, but we all need to find our own way. All people desire two very specific things for survival. Acknowledgment and appreciation. Providing those two elements to any person will result in phenomenal results.

Recently, I've made a personal commitment to myself and shall endeavor to follow the path on this journey. How it will finally work out, I have no idea. And you know? It really doesn't matter, the key is to enjoy and have fun with "doing the process." I wish I had learned this lesson long ago when the kids were still young. It's not necessarily arriving at the destination, sometimes at a very high personal cost, it's the journey getting there that is important.

Rambling once again, yet my desire is that one receives something positive from my sharing. Having said that, peace be with you on your own personal journey.

Can One Person Make a Difference: A Teenager Did This!

2010-06-29T08:36:00.006-04:00

I received this from my cousin, whom I have a great deal in common. To say it struck a chord in me is a gross understatement. At a minimum, take your time and absorb the words, the work, and the message. Did this teenager make a difference? You make your own decision and let me know what you think.

This was done by a teenager!

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa. For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.

It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos. All angles of the rock.

I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.

Here's the artist:
Ray 'Bubba' Sorensen.

AWESOME Work, RAY ...
Thank you!

Let us never forget! Always remember! Recognize and

Thank our Veterans!

I highly commend and thank the artist, Ray Sorrenson and the unidentified photographer for a job well done!

New Experience with a Pain Specialist to a Physiatrist. Physia what???

2010-06-23T16:55:00.009-04:00

OK Guys! Here's my latest update. I saw my PCP on recently. A very hard appointment for both of us because he is a very caring compassionate doctor who is practicing medicine because he likes helping people. I could feel the compassion and his frustration of not being able to really help me due to my neurological disease.

He did prescribe Ambien CR and a strong narcotic, Hydocodone horse pills, for my chronic and increasing pain. He was very clear, even though there is nothing medical science can do for me, he would continue to do what he can to keep me comfortable and treat me as a whole person. Funny, because we talked about doing labs an blood work. I started to laugh and asked him if he was concerned about premature death? He cracked up and said "yes, not that important any more is it? We'll just do it whenever you'd like to see an update." He walked me out to the car and helped me load my power scooter in the trunk, then gave me a big hug. Oh, BTW, he gave me his home telephone, personal cell numbers and his home email address, making it very clear to call him anytime. I am so blessed with this PCP.

Well, the point of all this, I took the meds that night as prescribed. I got really sleepy within about 45 minutes and went to bed looking forward to a full 7 to 8 hours sleep. "NOT!" I was wide awake and up listening to an audio CD book after only 3 1/2 hours. The sheet says it may take a couple of days use to get passed this point. We'll see. I'm not one who is ever optimistic about meds and never have believed in nor had a placebo effect. At this point I would love to even have a placebo effect.

So there I was, totally exhausted, 3 1/2 hours sleep and my major goal for the day is to shave and take a shower. Shaving with involuntary movements is always a challenge and the energy expended to simply take a shower is devastating. As our new post diagnosis family motto goes, "just go with the flow." So that's what I will continue to do.

OK! I'm changing the subject on you a little to catch you up. So hang with me on this......

I had my initial consult with a top pain specialist lasting about 45 min with the doctor. Luckily my wife goes with me on all of these appointments and provides the doctors with her perspective, which is very helpful to them and me.

Bottom line, the doctor was wonderful in that he did not beat around the bush. He performed a thorough physical and neurological evaluation and was straight forward with is assessment. I was a tad surprised as I believed he was the pentacle in the medical field for this type of treatment, if not a last resort.

He said there was nothing he could do for me due to the severity and my advanced progression. He confirmed I was a very complicated, complex case and he had only seen about three other patients like me in his career. OK! So what's new, right? Not like I haven't heard all this before. He did say he knew of someone who is a top physiatrist (????) who specializes in patients with terminal cancer chemo pain, post severe stroke and with advanced neurological diseases. I've never heard of this type of doctor.

The pain specialist said he knew him personally, would call him that afternoon, discuss my case and arrange an appointment for me. He fully understood I'd been dealing with this for 10 years now. I am no longer interested in further testing, 2nd/3rd/4th opinions, university visits, etc. I'm tired and I don't want to play that game any more. In addition, he is going to call my PCP, whom he knows, and discuss my case, giving his recommendations how to tweak a couple of meds for greater efficiency.

Now I have to research what a "physiatrist" is and what they do. Still cautiously optimistic and I will continue to simply "go with the flow." I'll keep you informed.

OH! Let me warn you, since the stroke, not only do I tend to talk too much with details, I seem to "run off at the keys" too. So I apologize for the long postings. But, you know what? If you have a problem with this, you have the right to get counseling. LOL! BIG FAT GRIN!!

Memorial Day Rememberance

2010-05-29T09:54:00.020-04:00

Please, take time to remember the Veterans and please, make a point to thank the ones still here.

I post this in memory of those who did not return with me. Who did not return with others, and those who have and will return.

God Bless America!

With Sincere Gratitude and Appreciation,

I give full credit to whomever authored and created the above tribute although I am unable to determine who that may be. This is not an original creation on my part and I am totally grateful to whomever the individual(s) may be. I thank you for such a wonderful job of conveying the message of Memorial Day's true meaning.

Ever Wanted to Escape to a Tropical Island?

2010-05-25T04:29:00.028-04:00

I learned years ago while slaving in the "corporate world," I was "making a living" BUT, not "living my life." Allow me to share with you how I changed all of that and turned my work and attitude around 180 degrees.

After serving time in corporate offices working in sales and marketing, the "cubical insanity" was taking a serious toll on my life affecting all areas. The biggest revelation to hit me was even while making the serious income, I was not happy. To be overtly "expected" to come in early, work through lunch, and leave late. When one day, I attempted to leave early on a Friday afternoon to attend my son's cross country meet, it hit the fan!

The next morning upon arrival I was immediately called into the "alleged" supervisor's office and told I was not to leave until 5 PM. Needless to say, while remaining very professional, emotionally cold, and intimidating in my own way, I quietly explained they should not expect it both ways. Yes, at that time I was working in a 6 1/2 by 7 foot cubical. I left that position within three weeks of the situation to an outside sales consultant position, totally autonomous, working from my new home office.

I adopted Mickey Mouse as my personal moniker representing everything happy about life, making me feel good. My office decorated with collectibles and expressing my opinion against corporate cubical slavery as all being "Mickey Mouse." That was over 10 years ago and in light of my current situation, after seriously thinking it over, I have transitioned totally from Mickey Mouse to a Scarlet Macaw parrot, tropical Caribbean island theme.

I put a great deal of thought into this selection, design, shopping, buying on a shoe-string. Expressing my personality in island music with waves in the background and brilliant vivid colors. You will see in my pictures I have a full wall mural with the view from a Caribbean resort balcony. Views of the ocean, islands, and beaches in the Virgin Islands. My wife made the curtains, selected the color and painted the room. She says now, unlike most men, I don't have a "man cave," but a "Man Island" to envy.

Needless to say, between the eye candy of vibrant colored parrots, soothing sea foam green walls, melodic Caribbean music with waves lapping in the background, and a full wall island resort scene, I don't mind being home bound and working in my office. While looking at these following pictures of my office ask yourself, "Am I only slaving away making a living when I should be designing and living my life?" Think about it and leave a comment letting me know how and what you are going to do to change your life.

~ My Tropical Escapism!~

~ Coffee Break Area ~

~Tropical Island View ~

~ Always Being Watched! ~

~ Look How Big He Is ~

~ I Love The Colors On His Back ~

~ It's Always 5 O'clock Here! ~

~ Better Work Area, Better Worker ~
~ Stay Focused, Breath....Ahh! ~

~ Finally, The Entertainment Corner ~

Thank you for visiting my office. I hope you feel a bit more relaxed and have a better understanding how your work environment greatly affects all aspects of your daily life. So, why not make it the most personal and enjoyable experience possible?

Allow me to conclude this post with a quote. "....prayer is a realization of the God-power within you - of your right of dominion over your own body, your environment, your business, your health, your prosperity. It is an understanding that you are "heir of God and co-heir with Christ." And that as such, no evil has power over you, whereas you have all power for good. And "good" means not merely holiness. Good means happiness - the happiness of everyday people. Good means everything that is good in this world of ours - comforts and pleasures and prosperity for us, health and happiness for those dependent upon us. There are no limits to "Good" except those we put upon it ourselves." ~ Robert Collier author, "Secret of the Ages."

How to Spend Your 36th Wedding Anniversary, Or Not!

2010-04-27T11:40:00.010-04:00

After a very trying recent 90 day period, my wife and I decided to extend our 36th wedding anniversary and get away to the beach for an extended weekend. Great idea!

Our favorite getaway is to Virginia Beach, Virginia as we simply love the location and the resort. We were able to find excellent accommodations on the ocean front, two room suite with ocean front balcony and the boardwalk and beach right out the back door. Since it is still "off season," we obtained an outstanding rate especially allowing us to stay four days and three nights at what would have cost for a night and a half otherwise.

Being on the 7th floor we had an unrestricted view of the boardwalk, ocean front beach, and all ship traffic coming and going into Norfolk. Of course I had my binoculars at the ever ready especially on the look out for the naval vessels. The weather was very cooperative and we took total advantage. Luckily, I have the three wheeled power scooter which allows me excellent freedom and mobility while not encumbering Joyce with having to push me around in a wheelchair. Worth its weight in gold to us.

We spent the best part of Saturday visiting the Virginia Marine Aquarium. So many new upgrades and additions since our last visit several years ago. We experienced, and I mean that literally, the IMAX 3D presentation of "Under the Sea." 3D ain't what it used to be at all anymore. We found ourselves actually "dodging" the fish and sea lions as they came right at us. I now understand how watching something like the movie "Avatar" in 3D can actually make you ill. Severe sensory overload. I have enough brain and neurological challenges so who knows how I would react.

To give you an idea how reserved Joyce and I are when out in public, I post these few pics for your viewing and amusement.

OK! You could say we just got, "ate up by the whole experience!"

So! I was just kidding about the being "reserved" part. We do tend to totally enjoy ourselves with no regard for public opinion.

I would also like to announce that as an anniversary present for Joyce, I presented her with a complete package of how we are to spend our 37th wedding anniversary. I had put a great deal of research and work into creating this project and this has been a life long dream of Joyce's since before we were married. I must say I was devastated at her initial reaction when I presented it to her last Tuesday night. She actually said she didn't care anymore and had written it off a long time ago, especially with my recent turn of events and diagnosis. Well, "CRAP!" I thought to myself as I smiled and said, "alright."

The next day I get this message on the answering machine from Joyce singing loudly, "I'm so excited! Just so excited! I don't know what to do!" My initial reaction was what the ........never mind. She went on to explain she was so tired she did not absorb what I was presenting to her and it only kicked in while at work what was at hand. I love the message so much, I refuse to erase it for the time being. Oh! What is the present I'm giving her for our next anniversary you ask? Only a 14 day round trip cruise on the Golden Princess, Balcony Suite and handicap accessible, mid-ship, from LA to and around the Hawaiian Islands, to Ensenada, Mexico, and back to LA with first class air nonstop from Dulles International to LAX. Flying first class was totally Joyce's idea and requirement, so I just caved on that one.

This will be home for two full weeks. I don't want you to think this is a Gilligan's Island type cruise ship.

So there you go. In a matter of 24 hours I went from totally devastated to totally elated based on Joyce's response and reactions to this news. Some women are just so hard to please, ya know.

Until next time.....

Is This Marriage Worth Saving?

2010-04-20T07:51:00.011-04:00

How many times have you heard this question asked either in real life, at family gatherings, and especially on TV? I submit to you only the two people involved in the marriage have the right and the knowledge to best answer this question.

I was around 16 years old, hormones raging to rival Hurricane Katrina, and very actively dating. I started dating this wonderful young women in high school. We were both between relationships so agreed to simply hang out together and go places with no real intention of taking it any further. Yes, it was a "tad" more than a platonic relationship. C'mon! We were both teenagers, how platonic could it really be, right?

I would spend time visiting her at her home, downstairs in the family room with her sitting on my lap talking, laughing, and yes, "whatever." Occasionally, her older sister would leave her downstairs bedroom and go up and down the stairs. Of course I would pay close attention to her tight ......, well, let's just say I didn't miss much with my astute teenage powers of observation.

Well, one thing led to another and we, the older sister and I, would get to talking and joking around. OK! I don't know what happened next but I do recall asking her to go to the local yearly carnival that came to the town shopping center each year. Yes, I did make sure the younger sister had "no problem" with me doing that and all was okay. So I "thought" at the time, but that's another story. The older sister said she would love to go with me. Great! Done deal!

I arrived to the front door at the appointed time only to be met face-to-face with a rather irritated Father. Before I could say anything he scowled down at me and gruffly asked, "And which one of my daughters are you hear to see this time?" It was a small front porch with a high railing so running for it was totally out of the question. I looked him square in the eye and with great confidence, a "pucker factor of 10.5," made my selection. Either way, he wasn't happy with my choice.

So! Now you know about our first date and how I met my wife, Joyce LeVasseur, now married for 36 fast and adventure filled years as of this day, April 20, 2010. No, you didn't miss anything in this story. I met my wife through dating her younger sister, Jean. Needless to say, their Father had no sense of humor about this initial situation. Luckily, I soon won him and Joyce's Mom over, growing into a wonderful family relationship.

Joyce has been the best thing to happen in my life. We have been blessed with a wonderful, thriving, exciting marriage, two great and successful children. Why such success in our marriage? Open, honest communication with each other. We both give 60% and expect 40% in return, giving us a 20% cushion for the hard times. Now, both of us cherishing every moment we have left together. Ya know? I think that's how everyone should live. Boy! Does it make a difference in a relationship.

Oh!......What? Oh, the younger sister Jean. Well, it wasn't until many years later that I learned our relationship was not near as platonic as "I" had thought. To that point, I often have wondered how different my life would have been married to Jean instead of Joyce. No matter. Everything has worked out very well in my life as a result of acting on that hormonal driven impulse stimulated by the observation of Joyce bouncing up and down the stairs in those tight blue jeans and T-shirt.

Happy 36th Anniversary Joyce! I love you now and always will, forever!
~ Craig ~

In The End We Learn It Is Only A New Beginning

2010-04-09T07:14:00.007-04:00

"In the end we learn it is only a new beginning." Life is really funny in this way and how many times do we not recognize it when involved? Maybe that's why we don't recognize it, because we are involved. This begs the question, what is the "new beginning" going to be?

OK! So here I am, once again, in a life fraught with many endings and beginnings. Many I chose and many hitting me square between the eyes like a 2x4. This time is new........it's a "2x6!" I seem to thrive when challenged, especially when told I can't do it, shouldn't do it, or will never get it done. To describe myself as tenacious, driven, objective oriented, never quit as there is always a solution. This can be summed up by our unit's motto when in the Army, "Evaluate, Adapt, and Overcome!" There are no problems, only challenges, which can always be overcome.

What's my point? Simple. I have reached a point where my mortal future is now finalized. The challenges created by this disease will only progressively worsen, causing me to drastically transition from a life with no limits, to a life of coping daily. Trust me, after driving a police pursuit vehicle in excess of 110 miles an hour; military HALO (High Altitude Low Opening)jumps; high speed-low altitude insertions when you reach the ground "BEFORE" you count to 10; civilian life is boring and "sucks!" My biggest challenge today is to maneuver my power wheelchair in the house without ripping up the sheet rock walls.

So! I'm in search of what's next for me. I have found great satisfaction living my life with a "servant attitude" helping others by sharing my gifts. Many times at a high personal cost to myself, but, greatly outweighed by the reward. My church has become my life's hub and anchor. Virtually all of my current friends are from church. Even in my present condition and circumstances, I am well "tolerated" in my church family. My motto is, "I don't care if you laugh "AT" me, as long as you laugh "OUT LOUD!"

A new journey begins, the path and direction I know not. An open mind, positive attitude in faith and with gratitude, I willingly move forward in anticipation and appreciation. Where ever I end up I pray that I am blessed and accepted as a blessing. At Fort Benning Georgia, the U.S. Army Infantry Center of the World, our motto is and always will be, "Forever Forward, Follow Me!"

Easter - A Time of New Beginnings

2010-04-04T00:49:00.004-04:00

Easter, a time of reflection, new beginnings in our lives, confirmation for Christians, and the celebration of Spring. Much to be highly optimistic about in looking forward and after being blessed with gifts to be shared. As the world started fresh and new with the resurrection of Christ, so should we and on a daily basis regardless our circumstances.

You see, one's faith in the future and our interaction in positive ways with other people on a daily basis, are the keys to designing a life versus simply making a living. It's all about being of service to others in whatever capacity our gifts provide. To have a gift and not share it, is not unlike a candle lit in the dark and placing it under a bowl. It is still there but of no value.

My perceptions of life, interactions with people, satisfaction with myself, recognizing the true priorities for concern, has become quite sharpened lately. I see it as a gift of clarity in vision and re-establishment of meaningful purpose. Too many of us experience life in a benign manner, numb to those around us, seemingly majoring in minor stuff, functionally alive yet, not living.

We have absolute power over our own thoughts, but allow others to control how we feel. How you ask? By giving them permission to dump on us, taking ownership of their negative position, and being sucked into their existence blindly disregarding our own true desires. Life is nothing but a constant series of choices. We must exercise absolute "response ability" to any situation by taking "responsibility" for our own choices, actions, and resulting consequences.

Easter! A time of new beginnings. Today, begin anew in adopting a "servant attitude" toward other people. Freely and without expectation of regard for return, share your gifts with others, for no other reason than to make a positive difference in their lives. As Christ walked out of his tomb changing the world forever, we too have the charge to walk out of our own tombs, creating a new life.

I share with you today, from my perspective, the stone is rolled back and the tomb is open. Take the first step in faith, building confidence with each shared experience. Make a positive difference in the lives of all you come in contact, and experience the bountiful gift of blessings received into your life. The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

In closing, may "Peace be with you," this Easter season. My friends, I share this desire to include all, Christian and non-Christian alike. Happy Easter!

Status Update

2010-03-23T04:49:00.004-04:00

I have been very remiss in not posting on my blog and I sincerely apologize to all.

Things are a bit more challenging lately and I am still in a major adjustment period. I've been told by two separate neurological groups to, "don't bother making an appointment because there is nothing we can do for you. If you have an "acute" episode in the hospital it will be up to your PCP and the on-call to deal with it."

OK! Some close a chapter in the book of life but this is right up there with simply closing the book. I have all the faith in the world in my Primary Care Physician. Not a whole lot of lov'n going on with neurologist. As long as I can get the needed meds to keep me comfortable, I don't need a neurologist.

By the way! I found out strictly by accident, I have a Disability Waiver of Premium on two major life insurance policies. I was not aware and it was news to me. Through serendipity I actually went through a phone maze and eventually was speaking to the agent who sold me the two policies. He is the only one who could provide me the information I required for my estate planning attorney.

Currently, I am working my way through a maze of procedure to file a claim, proving I've been totally disabled since June, 2002 and they "may" only pay retro back "one year." We're talking eight years of premiums. Oh wait! I forgot to tell you, I had not ever heard from this life agent since 1986. No follow up calls, policy coverage reviews, customer service, Christmas card, "NOTHING!"

Trust me! I will get full payment retro to 2002. Story to come.

Health challenges continue, so what's new right? We have been working diligently getting all of my financial affairs in order. Estate Planning and Elder Law have been a real experience and I plan on sharing it in the near future. So much is happening all at once and coming on so quickly. Top it all off with the sleep disorder and resulting sleep deprivation effects, and my life is not unlike a finely tuned, high powered, Electrolux vacuum cleaner. Get the point? LOL!

I apologize for the lack of content. I hope to add more in the near future once I get major aspects of my life in order. Hey! Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts about what is shared. I know I will read it.

Peace be with you all and: "Make it a "GREAT" day to remember!

Craig

An MLM Book That Can Save You $1,000's in Time and Money!

2010-02-06T03:06:00.018-05:00

Click for Your Report!

I am truly amazed! Finally, a book revealing the nitty-gritty necessary steps and elements required in selecting, or confirming one's selection, of a top quality MLM company. Lou Abbott has stepped out of the box so heavily guarded by the MLM industry to right the ship with "MLM The Whole Truth." His goal is for everyone to create "reliable, long-term, leveraged, residual income," through the selection of the right business opportunity and company.

This is not simply a report but an 81/2 by 11 inch beautifully designed, quality, paperback book. It consist of 86 pages, broken into 11 well organized chapters. This "Special Report" contains hard hitting, thought provoking, and brutally revealing principles called, "The 12 Critical Success Factors(TM)," which expose the keys to successfully selecting the right MLM company from the start. The established criteria, if followed, lead both a new person who is curious and an experienced entrepreneur in the industry, to make the right decision regarding a company. How? Through the hard leaned experiences shared by Lou and based on his proven, solid, non-emotional business evaluation factors.

"MLM The Whole Truth" is required reading to prevent one from learning the hard, expensive lessons experienced by Lou Abbott which are openly shared in this book. Take advantage of this opportunity before making a business commitment or, to evaluate your current company to insure they meet the 12 criteria for you to meet your business goals.

I highly recommend this book as a "must read" for anyone with an interest in the MLM/Network Marketing industry.

MLM/NWM An Industry Where You Can Actually Enjoy Working

2010-02-01T07:06:00.004-05:00

In doing a great deal of reflection on my life there is one thing that seems to stand out as if a brilliant torch. The MLM/NWM industry and more specifically the type of people involved.

Yes, I agree there are good and bad people in every industry, however, I've found many more positive, giving, sincere, and servant leaders in this arena than any other I've ever been involved. Only through my involvement would I have enjoyed the privilege of developing friends all over the country, some as long as 10+ years now, and never met in person.

I have good news! I checked the bottom of my foot last night and did not see any type of expiration date stamped on it. So I am going to spend my time concentrating on that which provides me the most enjoyment and personal satisfaction.

A key area is going to be within the MLM/NWM industry. I haven't decided the exact form of involvement, yet I feel prompted to share my experience and acquired knowledge freely with others who are seeking an answer to their rat race and corporate challenges. Helping them find the answer to that nagging gut feeling that there must be a better way to reach their dreams of personal and financial freedom outside of the 9 to 5 job. How I will do this remains to be determined. (Suggestions welcome)

There will be no claims of outlandish success, guru-ism, or even a hint of being an "expert" in this industry. Simply an average guy who has studied the industry for 15 years and share what I've leaned as a result. This is a goal with the hopes of saving someone unneeded aggravation, trial and error, reinventing the wheel, and getting unnecessarily beat up.

Know it or not, your time is short. Spend your time wisely, make good choices, and whenever the opportunity presents itself, step up and help the other person as you can to succeed.

Your thoughts, comments, suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking your time to read this post.

Self Discovery and Growth From the Strangest Places! Embrace it! Even Exploit it!

2010-01-11T03:46:00.020-05:00

Hello my friends! As with everything in life the only constant is change and we have a choice to embrace it or reject it, but we must be willing to accept the consequences in either case. I choose to embrace it, if not exploit it. Below is a post I made recently on my favorite forum, MLM.com. In addition, I've included my short book review of a book I recently purchased. "Why am I here and posting this?" All because of one simple quote I read in Tom Pinnock's book.

"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities ---always see them, for they're always there." ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Interesting what one can learn from reading with an open mind. I hope you enjoy, become informed, and find value in this post. Thank you for coming and supporting me with your warm thoughts of concern, appreciation, and respect.
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"Network Marketing/MLM Industry Provide Health Through Hope"

Interesting topic don't you think? "Is he crazy, making claims such as that about this industry?" Crazy? Yes, definitely! About the claims? Not at all! Which brings us to the "why" of this post.

As many of you are aware, I've been dealing with a "tad" of a few challenges in my life. I've reached a point and realize I can't "drive on through it, talk myself out of it, PMA my butt off and make a difference." It ain't going to happen guys! But, I found out a wonderful thing about this industry and the members. My association with you , no matter what the form, makes me happy, hopeful, optimistic, and most of all positive, while enjoying every moment.

As we all know from our own experience and readings of the great ones in this business and personal development, a life inclusive of the above feelings promotes directly to better health and personal wealth. I'm not talking about financial wealth either, as that is so secondary in life.

I've stopped in here recently after a long hiatus, experienced the humbling surprise of my life reading responses on my blog and it all made be feel "good!" What do they say, "if it feels good, do it?" Well, I don't know if my day's of "doing it" are over or not, but I do know my days of being associated with it are not!

I literally just finished Tom Pinnock's book, "You Can Be Rich By Thursday," and in one sitting. This in itself is a major positive accomplishment for me. The book contains no great revelations of life or the business, but I sure had fun and felt good reading it.

I come humbly to you, asking nothing, expecting nothing, yet by simple association and interaction, receiving so much into my life. How can anyone say this business model, industry, benefits of membership are a scheme or worse? I suggest they speak, "from behind" with their eyes wide shut, knowing not of what they speak. (Just my humble observation over the years.)

In closing, I say "THANK YOU!" Many times the value of the gifts we give are never really known, yet that does not diminish the value of the giving. For the receiver, who accepts the gift, must also accept the responsibility of the value received and is a better person for it.
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Let's change gears here and I have added my review of the book mentioned above. You may find it interesting, especially those of you not familiar with the industry.

My Review on My Facebook Visual Bookshelf

This book is an easy read, relaxing, enjoyable, informative, down to earth book about multi-level marketing. Tom shares his personal experience of rags to riches by his involvement in the revolutionary business of network marketing. You will appreciate the golden nuggets and pearls of wisdom shared whether you are just starting to look at the industry or a long time business member. He proves the business is simple and works if you follow the system and do not fall into the trap of reinventing the wheel.

This 136 page book consist of 27 well written chapters incorporating a variety of very appropriate quotes leading each chapter's subject. Don't be surprised if you read this book in one sitting as I did, and unexpectedly. The investment of time will be to your personal and possibly professional benefit.

I recommend this book on many different levels, all leading toward success and wealth. I'm not talking just financial or income as one would expect, but on a higher level.

I rated it at: 4.5/5.0 Stars.

Written on Jan 10, 2010 at 01:15PM
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Now! Go out and make it a GREAT day to remember!

You Have Given Two of the Greatest Gifts in Life

2009-12-23T11:59:00.006-05:00

Wendy d'Entremont has brought it to my attention to revisit and read my most recent blog post and resulting comments. I learned a long time a go to do what a woman tells you to do, so I did what Wendy told me to do.

I am having trouble writing this as the screen is so blurred with the tears in my eyes. I am so greatly humbled by the responses to my simple post, which has been overwhelming, to say the least. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I expect such a response from friends I know and the many friends I've never met.

Each message is unique in the story it tells and the depth of sincere feelings expressed. I can only say, from the deepest part of my heart, "Thank You!" You have given me two of the most valued, yet under recognized, personal gifts one person can share with another. I know, you are asking yourself right now, "what the heck is Craig talking about now?"

You have bestowed upon me the true sincere gifts of Acknowledgment and Appreciation. Two highly important desires of all people, yet we do not share enough with each other. These gifts can and do make all the difference in the lives of those who give and receive them. You have shared with me the gift of Acknowledgment by taking the time to visit, read, and respond in your own ways to my post. The second gift of Appreciation expressed in your honest sharing of your thoughts and feelings of how I have impacted your lives. I am so humbly honored by all of your expressions, mear words can not describe.

I close by quoting from my very first bio/profile written on Ryze many years ago.

"This is not the life I had planned or expected at this point. But, you deal the best you can with the cards you're dealt. I do have a pretty warped and sick sense of humor so I don't mind using my situation to make others laugh. A laugh is a priceless gift and brightens everyone's day who hears it.

So, each day I have a goal to make everyone's encounter with me to be a positive experience and have them walk away thinking, "I'm sure glad I met him today!" That applies to people on the internet as well. It feels good to know I can give people a smile or a good laugh just by writing. By accomplishing all of the above I already feel like the wealthiest man in the world!"

Thank you all for such a wonder gift of friendship.

You Never Know What Tomorrow Will Bring You

2009-12-17T12:02:00.004-05:00

WARNING! WARNING Will Robinson!

This may very well be my final post on this blog due to some serious and unexpected changes in my life within the last 30 days. As I said in the title, "you never know what tomorrow will bring you."

After my near fatal brain stem stroke a year ago this month, I thought things were moving along quite well in my adaptation and adjustment to the challenges of both my neurological disease progression and residual effects of the stroke. BUT! Life suddenly said, "AAAAAANNNNT! Wrong answer and thank you for playing !"

It started in September, just some slight noticeable changes in my symptoms like small involuntary movements of my limbs and neck. This coupled with progressive vision problems like severe double and blurred vision, was starting to add up to something sinister that only my outstanding Primary Care Physician (PCP) would put together. The symptoms got worse and started to involve my neck, shoulders, trunk, and legs. I'm sure I was pretty amusing to watch for other people. I know I would have been amused.

A serious talk with my ophthalmic surgeon regarding my impending cataract operation complicated by the involuntary head movements would make the operation very dangerous and near impossible. He suggested looking into meds for Parkinson's to settle me down enough for the operation. He faxed his concerns and findings to my PCP for further review.

During my appointment with my PCP regarding the frustration of these worsening spasms, muscular "explosions," and involuntary movements 24 hours a day, led him to perform some neurological tests. He excused himself from the exam room, returning 15 minutes later rather concerned. He had conferred with a neurologist and was told I should see a neurologist as soon as possible. My PCP said he was "very concerned," and even gave me his personal cell phone number to call him any time with concerns or questions. OMG!

I was scheduled in an unbelievable three days for a full consult and examination by the neurologist. My wife and I were there over 2 hours and 45 minutes. For the first hour the neuro simply talked to both of us and asked questions about my history, family, etc. Then he simply performed only four (4) simple tests on me. The final request, for me to stand and take two steps. I did, with great difficulty, and he said, "sit down, I've seen all I need to see." For those who don't know, a normal clinical neuro evaluation takes up to 45 minutes to perform from head to toe, pinkie to pinkie, and nothing is missed. So only four simple test? THAT was scary!

His conclusion was confident, up front, and no hint of sugar coating. I have a very severe and serious degenerative brain disease involving the Cerebellum and Brain Stem. There is no cure, treatment, and actually unlike Parkinson's, no meds to help with symptoms. The prognosis is the worst possible with continued and unpreventable progression.

All they can give me is a strong narcotic tranquilizer to knock me out and stop the movements so my body can rest. Three pills a day, so he says. I take one and am comatose for 14 to 16 hours with terrible side effects. Now I try to get by with a half or quarter pill but it doesn't help much. Just "coping" for me is equal to a normal person's "great day."

I know this is a real bummer to share with you but I felt you have been with me for years now and deserve some of the story of what's going on. I have decided to close my Internet business and possibly the blog too. The physical symptoms make working on a computer very difficult; blurred, double vision, uncontrollable arm and hand movements make my cursor crazy. The simplest task now takes forever and then with questionable results. The exhaustion from the slightest effort is overwhelming. My old "drive on and through it" mentality doesn't work this time.

So my friends, this may be my last post. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. In light of the season, I sincerely wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! "You never know what tomorrow will bring you," so live in the moment and cherish each day as it comes. I've heard it said that each day is a gift from God and that's why it's called "the Present." Go now, and make it so.

Life's Like That You Know.....

2009-12-17T11:36:00.003-05:00

I know I've been away for some time now and not posting. The reason is quite simple really. I became very involved, maybe too involved, in a particular project which was to involve the assistance of a group of people. We "were" seemingly like minded in our goals and the project. Here is what I learned after investing countless hours of learning, application, and trial and error. Please take note for your own benefit.

Just because a group of people are called a "committee" such a thing can quickly become a "committee" of ONE! That is what happened to me. Interesting how quickly people move from a posture of leadership to sheep. I learned many people have great ideas but, want someone else to take responsibility and do all of the work. Even then, once the project was finished, no implementation was done. I firmly believe had the "committee" paid $1,500 previously quoted for the job, rather than I doing all of the work on my own for no charge, the work would have been taken more seriously.

Well, I've learned my lesson of expecting people to "step up" and take responsibility and positive action. Rather I found the "Alpha Dog Syndrome" alive and well. Being one of not participating in the "Political Correctness" game, outlining the objective(s), making a plan, followed by decisive action and completing the objective, all the while attempting to keep the other members included in the process, just doesn't work! In addition, people do not like to be held accountable for their responsibilities. People would much rather sit back and have someone else do all of the work, not participate or support, yet want to be included in any resulting credit since they were, after all, a "committee member." I've learned, the hard way, I have no use for such people or their activities.

Thus the following results:

Craig's Life's Lessons:

Rule 11-Choose those whom you have confidential conversations judiciously.
Rule 12-When a confidence is broken, learn once and don't trust again.
Rule 13-When someone ask you to reveal and identify a confidential source/conversation, DO NOT! and never trust them for anything.
Rule 14-Even when people "say" they want to be involved, do not expect anything as a result, for "actions always speak louder than words." Judge a person by their actions, not their words.

There is much more to this story than I have room here or energy to share. The story is not important here, but the resulting lessons learned are important. Take this post for what it is worth.

I Lost a Lions Club Member and Friend

2009-08-05T06:58:00.008-04:00

As many of you know, I joined the Tuckahoe Lions Club to continue my personal development journey, expand my horizons, meet new friends, and be of service to others and the community. A decision I am immensely proud of in my life.

I had the honor and privilege to meet Don Thiel, the Secretary of the Lions Club, retired FBI Agent. A quiet, professional, sensitive, friendly, and enjoyable man to be around. I was just beginning to develop a personal connection with Don when, on Monday, July 27th, I received a call from my Club President informing me Don had passed away suddenly on Saturday.

To say I was in shock is a gross understatement. I was immediately swept by all of those, "but only if," "I should have," "why didn't I.....?" thoughts. You know what I mean.

Below is something Don shared with the Lions Club members that I felt compelled to share with you. Reading it, you will get just a slight flavor of what kind of man Don was and his views on life.

I post this not to bring you down or be a bummer, but to share with you the message to live life as if it were your last day. As I have come to known to say in my personal quote, "Make it a great day to remember!" Read and enjoy my friends.

Ramblings of a Retired Mind

This was an email from Lion Don Thiel last January, for everyone, it's worth reading, absorbing…………and smiling.

I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener. I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call “blue teeth,”………I think.

You know, I wasted a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.

I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans.

I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is when you still have something on the ball, but you're too tired to bounce it.

I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age, and calling it "Pumping Rust.”

When people see a cat's litter box, they always say, "Oh, have you got a cat?”……Just once I want to say, "No, it's for company!”

Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think you should write, "A good Doctor!”

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then it dawned on me.......they were cramming for their finals.

As for me, I'm just hoping that God grades on the curve.

Lion Don

In Loving Memory

Lion Donald A. Thiel

February 23, 1938
July 26, 2009

Annoucing "Belief Builder for Success" Website Debut

2009-08-03T08:05:00.004-04:00

I wish to announce the debut of my newly developed internet marketing website, Belief Builder for Success. This is the online division of Mattice Diversified Group. Belief Builder for Success is an internet portal which provides premier personal development and self-improvement products and services.

You know how we all express desires to create a better life personally, financially, and lifestyle? Well, Belief Builder for Success’ purpose is to provide excellent guidance and access to professional, proven, resources to create a Vision, crystallize Goals, develop Affirmations, and explore the Law of Attraction accomplishing growth from within thus changing our resulting circumstances. Additionally, selective services are provided, for a one-on-one experience, of personal coaching, motivational support, and accountability calls. This service is exclusive assisting clients in starting out their days on a positive, productive note and in the proper mindset for success.

I have intentionally not included a sign up or limited membership access on the website requiring name and email address, at this time. This will be added later with the offer of an outstanding ebook.

You are personally invited to visit my new website, explore the pages at your leisure, and discover how the subjects are presented in a personal versus an in-your-face sales approach, creating a comfortable and enjoyable experience for the visitor and client.

I am also requesting comments, suggestions, and any thoughts or criticisms that may improve the website. This is designed not to be your typical affiliate marketing website.

Enjoy your visit and above all else, have fun!

My Experience in a PC Trojan Virus Hell!

2009-07-17T16:24:00.003-04:00

PERSONAL NOTE: I hate to share bad news or experiences but this is a SERIOUS exception to my rule so pay attention!

You know how you "occasionally" will have those pesky computer hiccups and residual challenges that seem to disrupt different performances of your computer? You know the anxiety, fear, trepidation, and apprehension experienced when things "just don't seem to run right?" Well, sit back, grab a fresh cup of coffee and let me share with you my "30 Days of PC Trojan Virus Hell!"

It all started simply enough, yes, PC Tools Spyware Doctor was the first to recognize and quarantine a Trojan virus. Then very soon after, McAfee Security captured it again and quarantined the culprit. I was able to remove it from the computer with McAfee but I could not remove or delete it from the quarantine of Spyware Doctor. I even enlisted the online support of Spyware Doctor and completed an elaborate procedural process to try and remove it, which appeared to solve the problem. Ahhh! Relief! Another sick attack on my computer averted. Hmmmm! So I thought!

Quietly, little hiccups began to happen with easy enough repairs using Windows XP tools. However, every time I would solve one day's problems a whole new set would occur, seemingly unrelated. I continued on this "recognize>diagnose>verify>repair" mode for almost three weeks. Each experience becoming more and more complex to diagnose and evaluate, much less solve. I learned later these occurrences were becoming cumulative in nature causing more and more problems, compounding on the previous problems, solved or not. I said to myself, "Holy CRAP! What's this all about???"

I was already spending countless hours in this "survival" process making little, then no headway. I don't know, it just had to wait a bit as I was preparing to leave the country on a family reunion cruise. This was really praying on my mind as I now have so much invested in my computer with my home based business in personal development and just recently, the scanning, downloading and preservation of all of our familie's historical photographs from as far back as 1896. This situation was consuming all of my time. Since I have chronic insomnia, working just on the computer fixes was taking up to 18 hours a day, nonstop. I was spending so much time, weird times, on the computer my wife thought I was having an online affair. No such luck for this guy!

Upon my return from the cruise I had hit my optimistic limit of tolerance, broke down and called DELL On Call for help. They were awesome to say the least. Yes! I did not hesitate in purchasing a one year three incident technical service contract. I spent a solid three (3) hours online and on the phone with an outstanding and professional DELL Certified Technician who was able to take over my computer remotely, diagnose, evaluate, and clean out the Trojan virus. He revealed to me this was a rather insidious Trojan virus in that it initiates itself well embedded into the programming and continuously mutates spreading through out the hard drive and programs. He actually showed me the virus activity and that it was a countdown virus, meaning, had I waited until midnight of that night, it was 4:00 PM when I called him, my hard drive would have been totally destroyed. BUMMER!

Now came the big job of cleaning up the residual mess caused to the applications and even the registry. No computer technical service can guarantee or attempt to repair all of this due to the sheer number of programs and applications involved, it was up to me. There was some serious removal and reinstallation of programs and applications. This difficult process was seriously compounded by the bugs and problems with the new Firefox upgrade to 3.5 and its refusal to "play well with others in the sandbox." I finally uninstalled Firefox 3.5 and performed a clean reinstall of Firefox 3.01.11, the previously well functioning version. In addition, my HP printer software was completely corrupted.

Dealing with these issues one at a time, pulling from full image backups, restores, uninstalling and reinstalling with all of the glitches imaginable with both Firefox and HP were unbelievable. Finally, as a direct result of all of my personal research on the net; technical forums, product forums, knowledge bases, and serious trial and error learning, I FINALLY got my PC back to a clean, glitch free, awesomely functional, basis on Thursday, July 16th at 1:30 PM.

The life's lesson here guys? Take every attack of a virus or Trojan very seriously. To prevent grief in your life, always always perform backups to an external hard drive or separate partition on your hard drive. Utilize all of the services provide by McAfee Security Suite or Norton, perform twice daily full Restore Points to always have something clean and solid to fall back to in this event. At one point I was actually in fatal fear of having to uninstall and reinstall a clean Windows XP Professional Operating System. This would actually remove all existing information, archives, programs, and applications. Not an option in my mind! Learn from my experience, PLEASE! Now I can't wait to get back to my real life, what little there is of it, but it is mine.

Thank you for reading this expose' and personal experience. I hope you enjoyed and benefited from your time invested. I greatly appreciate it.

A Couple of GREAT Books I've Just Read!

2009-07-17T09:36:00.006-04:00

"The Answer" by John Assaraf & Murray Smith is such a refreshing surprise reading for a "business" book. I was caught totally off guard as the descriptions of the book don't do it justice at all.

I was attracted to this book, (no pun intended), by the reputation of the authors, my personal development journey and reading about the Law of Attraction, other Laws of the Universe, and their applications to my life and business. Totally well worth the investment of time, energy, and cost.

This very attractively presented book consist of 303 well written pages, broken into 15 very digestible chapters, including four excellent Appendix's which will impress and surprise you.

The content of this book deals directly with the application of the different Laws of the Universe, most importantly in your life and expanding to their relationship in your business. The principles shared with the reader are applicable to anyone on a personal development journey involving business or not. For someone even remotely interested in their own business or career, this book is REQUIRED reading. I can not emphasis this enough.

I will enjoy reading this book over again as I'm positive I did not absorb the many golden nuggets shared by the authors. Make time for this book in your life and experience the revelations provided through proven application in life and not theory. You will be a better person as a result.
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"The Love Dare" by Stephen Kendrick presented through the release of the movie "Fireproof." Don't laugh! This may be a life changing book for you to invest your time and energy.

I was first exposed to this book through watching the movie "Fireproof" starring Kirk Cameron as a special function with my Sunday School class. To say I was moved, touched, excited, and enthusiastic about obtaining this book is an understatement.

If you are at all familiar with the movie, even if you are not.....yet, you will realize this book is geared toward saving and creating a very positive marriage relationship. Troubled marriages especially, but everything revealed in this book applies to ALL marriages. It is for this reason I personally bought the book. My marriage is very healthy and successful lasting 37 years now.

The foundation of learning, growing, and developing a healthy marriage relationship in this book is based on a solidly Christian foundation and Bible teachings. I appreciated the references throughout this 40 day experience to specific and very applicable Bible verses. All of which, reinforce the message, path of development, and the recreation or maintaining of a very healthy marriage relationship with your partner.

If this is even a question in your life or you just wish to continue further on your personal development journey, this book is invaluable. You will learn from and enjoy this book as it is so well presented in 40 individual day teachings for immediate application. A complete 40 day course in marriage contained in only 212 pages. Pretty impressive!

Cruising is The BEST Vacation....Even With Relatives!

2009-07-17T06:45:00.009-04:00

A totally "AWESOME" experience!

We received the idea from my sister-in-law Donna last year with, "Hey! Let's have a family reunion to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, AND do it on a cruise!" Well, the cruise really caught my attention, being an avid fan of the industry and outstanding travel value, the family reunion at tad questionable. Let me share my story with you about our experience.

The idea caught momentum among the family members. The coordination of opinions and schedules went very smoothly. I will tell you, the alleged "travel agent" who was handling this large group booking, was later learned to be NOT a certified "travel agent" but a member of a network marketing travel home business group. The life's lesson here? Always check out the "professional" handling your business as it can make all the difference in the world in the final outcome. However, with our family, we did not let her shortcomings affect our experiences.

We traveled on the 70,000 ton Carnival Inspiration from Tampa round trip to Cozumel Mexico, lasting five days. I easily booked a handicapped accessible state room on the Empress Deck and main entrance lobby of the atrium. What a great way to start the day, walking into that impressive area with the seven story glass atrium and elevators. Since I don't sleep much anymore, I was up and in the main atrium lobby doing my morning reading by 5 AM each morning. This was fantastic as I was able to meet many early rising passengers and two different shifts of the ship's staff. Everyone makes friends very quickly and being the personality I am, coupled with driving a metallic candy apple red three wheeled power scooter all over the ship, created an exciting interaction experience.

I have to share this with you. This was the first time I had taken my power scooter out of the house. It's so cool because it breaks down into four parts, fits in the trunk of a car, the heaviest piece is only 28 pounds. Needless to say, I was just learning to drive this thing, getting used to moving at "turtle" to "rabbit" speed with a maximum speed of five miles per hour. There are no brakes but it slow stops once the speed lever is released. I tended to run into walls and some people getting used to this ride. I simply would announce myself getting in/out of elevators or crowded areas, "Crazy man driving here! Just learning! Warning Will Robinson, Warning!" Everyone around me had a great laugh while diving out of the way for their lives.

By the second day of the cruise, countless passengers were stopping me, hugging, kissing, shaking my hand, and warm friendly greetings from many of the ship's staff. My daughter, Jen, asked me, "Dad! Is there ANYONE you don't know on this ship?" Acting very surprised at the question, I responded, "Well, I haven't been to the engine room yet." I've learned the key to success and prosperity in life is through positive human interaction. Everything else in our short experience on this planet is only a trapping and stuff.

It was so great seeing all the different family members. We took up about 12 staterooms and everyone totally enjoyed themselves. This experience allowed all of us to spend as much or as little time with family with the only required family attendance event being the dinner. It made the waiters and assistants crazy because each night we would all sit at different tables and seats.

My wife, Joyce, and I decided to stay aboard while in Cozumel since we had been to Mexico and resort strips before, coupled with the physical logistic challenges of getting around with a power scooter. When I would meet people staying on ship I would comment, "I'm not going ashore. So from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM I'm convinced this is my private yacht and crew, with some selected special friends on board. You are welcome to stay of course and I will pick up the tab for your meals." People just loved that point of view and we had great fun with it between passengers and crew.

In summary, this was an OUTSTANDING vacation, family reunion, adventure, and life's experience. I wouldn't have missed or traded it for anything. I am in sincere gratitude to my sister-in-law Donna for pulling this off so well. This trip was not without it's challenges but they all lent themselves to the bouquet of events making this event so memorable. I am only able to highlight just a small portion of my experience, yet, I'm sure you can relate vicariously to such a family reunion and cruise. Don't waste any more time and take the initiative in creating such a memorable event for your family. You won't be disappointed and what a great way to reconnect, tell stories on each other, and even create a few new ones.

You've GOT to Read This Book! "Money and the Law of Attraction"

2009-07-02T09:30:00.004-04:00

"Money and The Law of Attraction" by Jerry and Esther Hicks

Totally "AWESOME" book! I originally viewed this experience with skepticism and doubt. Boy! I was so wrong! "Money, and the Law of Attraction," is a great follow up to reading "Think and Grow Rich." In fact, Jerry Hicks states the whole reason for writing this book is based upon his experience of reading "Think and Grow Rich" and his life's experiences since.

This very attractive 236 page book consisting of five primary parts including many mini-subject chapters, is very easy reading; but I must warn you, there is a great deal of important information to assimilate, so read slowly and use a highlighter liberally. Anyone on a personal development journey must include this book in their personal library. I would strongly recommend reading, or rereading, "Think and Grow Rich" in conjunction with this book. You will be amazed at what will jump off the page you never really noticed before reading "Money, and the Law of Attraction."

This is a multi-read book to get the full impact of the knowledge and principles being shared. Make the investment of time and money, you will not be disappointed.

Catch Up on My Current Readings

2009-06-21T07:07:00.003-04:00

"7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness" by Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn's book is a very motivational, enlightening, insightful, and a positive down to earth experience. What an enjoyable book. I realize this book was published first in the late 1990's yet his information is as relevant today as then.

I found this 156 page book with 11 chapters, very well presented, easy to read, yet full of direction and practical thoughts causing me to feel I had just received some serious revelations to success in life. I strongly suggest you have a fresh day-glow highlighter handy while reading. You will get tremendous use out of it.

Jim Rohn's "7 Strategies" cover all areas of life leading to success in wealth and the creation of happiness. He spends three complete chapters on the key subject of success, goals. Follow the exercises and reap the benefits. The challenges he presents work to an awesome result.

This is a key book to be kept in my permanent personal library. I highly recommend this book to everyone at every level of personal development and self growth.
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"Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle" by Jim Rohn

Well! This book experience is an unexpected revelation of five key elements for a successful and prosperous life. Only 121 fast reading pages, very well written and presented in five specific focused chapters. The information is shared in a manner as if listening to a wise mentor, expressed with authority and the conviction of truth.

No matter where you are on your personal development journey there are serious applicable truths revealed in this book. Even though it was written in 1991, everything, and I mean everything, is totally relevant to life today. I find Jim Rohn's teachings always in tune with the principles and laws of success in life. He speaks with the wisdom of Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, and Bob Proctor. A very positive and enlightening journey is experienced reading, "The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle."

This is another classic addition for my personal living library. Enjoy!

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"How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

How can Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends & Influence People" not be a five star rating? This book is a new revelation every time I read it. I don't know how many times that is now, but I'm sure I will be reading it again.

This book is so filled with quality, down to earth, common sense methods for dealing with people to be second only to the Bible. I ran a yellow highlighter dry going through this book again. It amazes me the impact these simple techniques have on our every day encounters with other people in all different situations.

This book is 249 pages, comprised of four well organized, well written sections, encompassing the presentation of 30 proven principles that will "Win Friends and Influence People."

I recommend this book as a classic in successful human interaction to the benefit of all. Well worth the investment of time and resources for information not taught in our educational system. Make a point to read this book once a year and share it with your friends and colleagues.

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"It's Not About the Money" by Bob Proctor

Learning from Bob Proctor over coffee! A must experience!

This is a brand new book by renowned author Bob Proctor, published in 2008. I actually had to add it to the catalog of Facebook's Visual Bookshelf program.

I found this book enjoyable, down to earth, full of common sense and positive authoritative guidance and direction. It is like speaking to Bob Proctor over coffee in his home.

The book deals with a primary premise that "Money is not the goal." It is the result of many factors and the most important is our internal belief, thinking, and attitude toward money, prosperity, and wealth.

A very friendly well designed and presented book including 10 well written chapters in this 166 page paperback. The quality of this book's contents and authority of the author can be summed up in a quote from Jack Canfield. "If you're smart, you will read this book. Since I started applying Bob Proctor's principles and strategies in my life, my net worth has multiplied 40 times! Now this master teacher has put his best wisdom and insights into this great book."

Need I say more, other than I wholly recommend this book to everyone interested in abundance, prosperity, success, wealth building, personal development and growth.

I hope you received benefit and inspiration from allowing me to share my book reviews with you and will not take action on your own to pursue you own personal development growth.

What are you doing to become that which you desire to "Be?"

2009-05-18T05:40:00.003-04:00

You may know, by visiting my blog, I'm on a sincere journey of personal development and self-growth. This is a challenge like no other I've experienced, with radical revelations and leaps of greater understanding of myself, life, and other people. My path is guided by my Faith, friends, active participation in life, reading and listening to motivational books and biographies of successful people. To change your circumstances, you must first change from within.

This journey is occurring while I'm very involved with the life's transition of my elderly parents from independent living in their own home to an assisted living community. This while dealing with their severe loss of short term memory and dementia challenges. In addition, I'm still dealing with my stroke recovery yet, getting better and better everyday with positive expectations.

As a direct result of the above, I'm now experiencing chronic insomnia. This is something I've never experienced before, leading me to only catch sleep in one to three hour blocks. The cumulative and residual effects are taking a constant toll on my daily activities. Sleep deprivation is very insidious in all respects. Because of a residual effect of my brain stem stroke reducing my respiratory response, no sleep aids may be used without the risk of death by never waking up. I know......... Bummer!

Expanding in an additional and totally new direction, I'm moving into the world of Internet and Affiliate Marketing, in addition to my existing business. To say it is simple, is very accurate. To say it is easy, is a whole other Gorilla. I'm finding the learning curve to be very intense, overwhelming at times, frustrating at others, yet fun and very rewarding. The business model is proven so I'm actively learning about website building, Google keywords, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), cPanel, SQL databases, html, CSS, screwing up often and seriously, recovering, and learning from it every single day. Does this give you a good picture of the challenges?

I'm very proud of my progress as it is exciting learning a whole new industry. I've selected a solid niche, concentrating on two sub-niches. My website is under construction and progressing well but slowly. Things in my life never move as quickly as I would like them. My Mom always told me growing up to "be" patient, "learn" patience. Well, I finally "learned" patience. I just don't "practice" patience. I will share my link when my website goes live so you may experience my newly learned and applied work.

I would like to close by you taking just a few quick minutes to view a video. It was shared with me by a very good and close friend and I thank Win Davis with sincere appreciation. Thank you for visiting my blog and spending some time with me sharing my life.

"Finish Strong" is based on a book by Dan Green and made into this awesome short video about over coming adversity to become successful. I am utilizing only the link vs. embedding it, as the video starts immediately when accessed. Click on this non-affiliate link above and try not to be motivated while watching or after you experience the video, "Finish Strong." I dare you! In fact, I double-dare you!

Experience Quality Personal Development Reading - My Reviews

2009-05-04T07:40:00.007-04:00

I believe you will find my current personal development reading material very interesting. Due to my recent insomnia challenges, I seem to have a great deal of time to experience quality books and I'm loving the whole process. Below are a few of my book reviews expressing my experiences. My desire is for you to receive value, enjoyment, and possibly a good laugh, out of reading my book reviews. Please feel free to leave whatever comments you would like after viewing this post.

"MACH II With Your Hair On FIRE," The Art of Vision & Self Motivation by Richard Bliss Brooke

How many times have you read books during your personal development reading and were told to create a "vision," establish your "goals," and write "affirmations?" I've experienced this many times but have found very few who share with me, "how to" accomplish all of these feats. Well, I'm here to share with you an outstanding resource for accomplishing all of the above in the real world.

Richard Brooke has a fascinating and inspirational life to draw his insights, which are shared very generously in this book. I have full confidence in saying Richard talks the talk and walks the walk on all levels of success. The growth and development of his life from questionable beginnings after graduation from high school to his amazing success as a multimillionaire and President of Oxyfresh for over 20 years is amazing, to say the least.

I am a firm believer to get where I desire to be, learn from and duplicate the success of those who are active and successful at the level I aspire. What better example than by reading, and applying, the principles, exercises, and recommendations of Richard Brooke contained in "MACH II With Your Hair On FIRE."

This excellently written book contains 195 pages of pure golden nuggets for success. Richard lays down the step-by-step process to determine a viable, robust, vision for your life, based on your core principles. Establish clear, concise, challenging, goals in all areas of your life. Develop effective, highly productive, personal affirmations to capitalize on the immense power of the subconscious mind, to reach the lifestyle of your dreams. All of this accomplished in an easy to read, across the kitchen table, style of writing that is sure to make you feel like Richard is a good friend and neighbor.

This is a new classic for me and is now a permanent part of my library. I already plan to read and reread this book in the future. Join me in experiencing this book and saying to yourself, "Hey! I can really do this and it works." I recommend this book to literally everyone regardless of their circumstances, current or past experiences. You have the opportunity to create the vision, goals, affirmations, and internal motivation to live the lifestyle of your dreams.

"The Success Principles" How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, by Jack Canfield

I just finished reading this book for the second time and I'm sure not my last time. I was very prepared this time with plenty of bright Yellow highlighters. Two went dry before I finished the book.

I actually believe "The Success Principles" was better this time than the first. I am amazed at the nuggets and new ideas I seemed to pick up this time that I don't even remember after the first reading. I am so impressed with this book, I lent it to my daughter, who has been working on getting her own copy for keeps. I just purchased and sent one to her as a gift.

Jack has a way of writing to reach every level of reader, get his points across, and allow immediate application to real life. Not that this is a "how to" type of book, it really is a book of concise revelation to discovering yourself. Investing in your own personal growth has the highest return.

I highly recommend this book to everyone ready to listen to the teachings and apply the principles improving their own lives to the fullest potential.

"The Power of Focus," What the World's Greatest Achievers Know About The Secret to Financial Freedom & Success by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt

I found this book interesting but no revelations. I believe Jack Canfield has matured tremendously in his life's applications for success exhibited by his classic Success Principles. "The Power of Focus" is a hard core how to book with exercises, direction, and examples for all points presented.

Personally, I found I have matured passed the level of training provided in this book. Having said that, for someone just starting out on their journey to focus or refocus their lives, this is an excellent blueprint to accomplish that goal.

I recommend you read this book with an attitude open to learning new concepts, use a quality highlighter, and have a notepad on the side. The organization of the material is well placed and flows smoothly making the utilization of the book easy to apply.

I found, as is with Jack et.al. writings, there is very little theory and generous concrete and proven techniques based on their personal experiences. I do like this about his books. I don't know about you, but I look for what works in reality, not what people believe should work. My goal in life is to reduce my trial and error, learning from other people's experiences.

"Ask and It Is Give," Learning to Manifest Your Desires by Esther and Jerry Hicks - The Teachings of Abraham

This is a great follow up book to the "Law of Attraction." I found the information continued to build on the foundation established in the earlier book with continuity. One must read it slowly to absorb the true message being shared. This is not a quick skim type of reading, if you want to experience the full benefit.

This book is 311 pages in length, well written, easy to understand, and well organized in sequence. I find it could have been easily two books. One with the full message and applications and a second dealing with the 22 processes. I actually stopped reading once into the 22 individual processes, went back to the beginning, and reread using my day-glow yellow highlighter. I got so much more out of the information the second time around. Might I suggest this method for you too?

Highly recommend it for all of those on their journey of self discovery and personal development.

"Having It All," Achieving Your Life's Goals and Dreams by John Assaraf

Reading this book was a pleasant surprise as it is my first exposure to the writings of John Assaraf. His style is very easy, smooth, across the kitchen table, and generous without hype.

"Having It All" is 217 pages long, broken down into three parts containing 12 well organized chapters. I found his information well balanced with personal insight, stories of other people's experiences, and grassroots knowledge. I particularly appreciated his personal background as a "street kid," proving to me he walks the talk in all areas. I'm sure this is why he is featured in "The Secret."

John plainly guides you through the process to determine and achieve your life's goals and dreams with some challenging and thought provoking exercises. As with any good book on personal development, you get out of it what you put into it.

"Having It All" starts out with authority in that Bob Proctor writes the Forward and has personal knowledge of John in his development of a long lasting successful lifestyle. i recommend this book to anyone on a journey of personal development who would like to relax and enjoy reading a good book while learning about yourself at the same time.

"Talent Is Never Enough," by John C. Maxwell

This book was an interesting surprise filled with well presented insight, thought provoking views on life and success, and an outstanding use of appropriate quotes. I found myself keenly interested in the primary points presented; however, John tends to get a "tad" too detailed in his real life examples leading to a "schlogdown" in the reading experience.

This book is 275 pages long consisting of 13 chapters. I realize his goal is to be as comprehensive on the subject as possible, yet this led to a feeling of being beat to death while making the primary point. I also noticed the book was laid out almost like an outline vs. a readable experience of discovery.

Having said this, I never realized the discussion of Talent as it relates to success in life encompassed so many elements directly affecting our success. I recommend this book to anyone on a personal development journey open to new perspectives of how talent should be considered in all aspects of life. I feel it is time well invested and I will read the other books authored by John Maxwell.

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Now you have a flavor of the types of personal development books I invest my time to further my experience and continue on my own journey of self improvement. As I have learned throughout this journey, to change my outer circumstances, I must first change within. I'm enjoying the "process" and am experiencing a life with no limits, full of positive expectations, and "Being" the person I desire to become now.

Funny, the directions our lives take for success.

2009-05-01T07:07:00.006-04:00

Funny, the directions our lives take for success. Committing to a journey of personal development is the best investment of time and resources in our lives. The benefits are far reaching, not only unto ourselves, but all those we have the privilege of connecting with in our travels.

Being an avid reader of quality personal development books; I've found approaching each experience as unique between me and the author, while keeping an open mind, exhilarating and liberating. This activity has fueled my optimism, hope, and enthusiasm for experiencing all aspects of life without limits. What new direction have these experiences led me, you ask? Let me share with you my genesis of growth.

Almost by accident, while recovering from my stroke and unable to work my business as I would like, I started experiencing exposures to the internet and affiliate marketing arena. I felt this would be a good time to investigate this new paradigm and see where it leads. After becoming grossly overwhelmed by the number of "newbie, we can do it all for you and you will become rich over night" guru marketed products, I learned to search out reliable sources of information. My goal in life is to always locate those people who are active, knowledgeable, and experiencing the success I desire, for true information and guidance.

This search led me to www.warriorforum.com, www.affilorama.com, www.abestweb.com, the purchase of a quality affiliate training product called Affilimax Conversions, and participation in Ed Dale's 30 Day Challenge. I found this information so totally overwhelming, sounded like Greek, yet very exciting and challenging discovering this new world. I can't even begin to describe what I have learned on this journey so far. Adopting the attitude that anything is possible, there are no limits on my abilities or what can be learned, the satisfaction of experiencing the results of "knowledge applied," this process alone is exhilarating.

Soon, the results of my new journey will be revealed with the goal of improving the lives of others in several ways to attain success. Will all of this effort, time invested, and plain work be of benefit to others? The answer is yet to be revealed. No matter what the results, the key is just loving the "process of discovery" and application of knowledge through focused actions. Isn't that as life should be?

How can I have a true mindset of success and prosperity?

2009-04-06T13:36:00.006-04:00

Is this a question you have asked yourself at anytime? What was your answer? Did you even attempt an answer? Many many books have been written on this subject, some even promise to give you the answer. Not so fast! Please, get a fresh glass of ice tea, a diet coke, or cup of coffee. Get comfortable, sit back and spend a few quality minutes with me and what I have to share.

Life is funny, you know? Just when we think we've got it all figured out, BANG! a swift hard dose of reality drama hits us in the face. Many times we only react to the situation, not always the best approach. The key is to respond to what happens to us. What's the difference, you ask? Reaction is simply acting on instinct without much thought and dealing with the consequences later. Again, not always the best approach, as many of you who are married or have children have come to learn. Ahh! But to respond. Now that requires practice, self-knowledge, faith, and thought, allowing us to choose our next step. The benefits of this approach are overwhelming in leading to success in life, professionally, and personal relationships.

Since beginning a serious personal development journey, a great deal of knowledge, wisdom, and prosperity has been revealed, creating such a phenomenal impact on my life. I have to admit, in the past I must not have been mentally ready for the "message" as I've learned while rereading some books, I now "get it." The message comes through loud and clear causing serious insightful growth in my life. This growth and personal revelations did not come just from reading. If only it was that easy for me to learn life's lessons of Be-Do-Have in reaching my dreams, living a life on faith, stepping out of my comfort zone, and living a designed life rather than making a living.

Let me interrupt here, just in case you are not that familiar with my background. On December 11, 2008, I experience a near fatal brain stem stroke leading to a choice for my wife of let me die or give me a potentially fatal drug that "may" turn things around. Many of you may know of the "clot buster drug" and it's use in these cases. I am happy to admit she chose wisely, the drug was administered, with only 10 minutes left in the window for administration, and it actually worked without killing me in the process. My recovery has be described by many as remarkable, not as fast as I would like, nothing ever is, yet I am almost back to pre-stroke baseline. I've posted three YouTube videos of my recovery process you may be interested in seeing.

OK! Back to the subject of this article. I would wish no one go through such an ordeal to discover themselves, their true priorities in life, determination and clarity of worthy goals, and the importance of your place within humanity. We can accomplish this without such a drastic intervention into our lives. How, you may ask? Very simply by opening up our minds to the unlimited possibilities of life around us. Become a student of the Bible, or religious teachings of your choice, learn about "The Secret," the Law of Attraction, and anything associated with introspective revelation. Learn, and most importantly, apply the principles with honest actions.

You see, life is a journey of discovery and experience. Approach each day as a brand new chance to accomplish, with enthusiasm, the life you so ardently desire. Let nothing dissuade you in your efforts to Be the person you ultimately desire. Start today and Do those things the person you desire to Be would do. To your amazement, you will Have what you desire in life, and in abundance. No, this is not new age hogwash. Years ago I might have thought the same thing. This is why one must be ready to receive the message in their life to be able to grow and reach for what one is entitled. Our destinies are not predetermined and we do have the power to design our lives as we wish them to be. We do have this power within us already but it must be saute after to be revealed.

People tell me I'm not the same person I was before my stroke. They mean this in a good way. I'm described now as more gregarious, fun loving, humorous, people want to be around me, I have new wisdom, and I seem to speak from a uncanny position of knowledge and authority, not experienced before. Is that mind blowing or what? All of this time I thought the only new thing was learning how to speak and walk again.

This article I've shared with you today, may or may not have an impact on you. My desire is for you to see inside my world and take something of value away as a result of this experience. Don't wait for a traumatic event in your life. Wake up! Take the initiate and personal responsibility for your actions and your life. Decide who and what you desire to be, then do what is necessary to accomplish the life you deserve. I wish you sincere Godspeed in your personal journey and go in the confidence you have the power within you now.

Life Beyond Wealth, Are YOU Up for the Challenge?

2009-04-03T07:18:00.009-04:00

Are you facing new challenges in your life? Do you struggle with the frustration of not living a life beyond wealth? This current economic environment is presenting new challenges to us everyday and the only real power we have is to "choose" how to respond to them in our best interest. No longer do we have the luxury to simply react to a given situation but rather to think and respond. If this is possibly a new concept to you, it may be the best time to investigate, learn, and apply a paradigm shift in your thinking.

How is this possible, you ask? I too was in a short mindset and only reacting to the challenges presented, both long term and short term. It seemed I was constantly running from fire to fire in my life with no real apparent control. I first had to recognize this is not the way to live a life. I was spending all of my energies just trying to make a living at the sacrifice of my personal and family obligations and all of this impacting my health. It was time to take responsibility for my life and my actions, prioritize my life, change my mindset, and start living.

You are not alone in your frustrations of not living the life you had dreamed, providing for your family as you would like, and feeling blocked into your current situation. There is distinct hope to make the major changes in your life that you desire. You may have heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." No amount of personal development reading, listening, or training will have a positive effect if the mind is not ready to accept what is being presented. Does this make sense?

Let me share what jump started me at the right time of my personal development journey. Yes, this is an ongoing journey and not a destination. Like you, I was reading other people's experiences, called and talked to those who were where I wanted to be, and learned about a fantastic training program found at Belief Builder for Success. This is the premier multimedia success training program created by a top personal development company in the industry.

When you take the initiative in life, realize there are no limits and you do have control over you, the opportunities are boundless as to what you can and will accomplish. This is not pie in the sky theory but a proven system to create a mindset of open possibilities in your life.

The mind is like any garden. If the soil is not ready to receive the seeds, the quantity and quality of seed presented, is not going to take root and grow, changing barren ground into a lush crop.

This new beginning starts you on the way to a major mental paradigm shift opening your mind to what can be, without limits imposed by your own past thinking.

The question remains, are you ready and willing to make a strong positive change in your life? Only you can decide. The next step is to follow through with positive action.

What is the Truth About Affiliate Marketing Training?

2009-03-22T07:52:00.011-04:00

For anyone interested in learning about internet and affiliate marketing, what is the greatest challenge? Well I'll share my experience and you let me know if I'm on target. Information overload and bad or lacking quality information at that. Right?

I've researched the internet, initially out of curiosity, progressing to a serious desire to learn and expand into this area to create additional streams of income. Holy Mackerel! I was not prepared for the number of alleged "gurus" and scammers I found throughout my quest for legitimate knowledge. Luckily, I was referred to some high quality resources through word of mouth and linking into one or two preeminent IM (Internet Marketing) forums.

Now I was on my way to getting a good solid education picking up a couple of excellent, professional, and successful mentors along the way. You can not expect to learn about this business by yourself, don't even try. Trust me, this is not network marketing or MLM in any way shape or form. Although, one can apply the techniques learned to further those businesses if done with quality, valuable content, and legitimate product offers. My initial goal was to learn about IM and further market my existing business. I soon learned about the profitability from informational and Affiliate marketing with a very bright light bulb going off in my head.

There are many many programs out there that tout giving you the "secret" and teaching you all of the techniques to successfully learn and begin a six figure business on the internet, turn-key, up and running in just a few clicks or days. This is all just hog hash and don't fall for it. They have the marketing/selling pages down pat and can make the burning down of your house sound like a good idea. Find sources you can trust from sources you can trust.

The point of this article is to let you know I've found a great product that explains this entire business of internet and Affiliate Marketing in simple, easy to understand terms. You can't screw it up. Believe me when I say this because I always keep an open mind in this area and if I can't/don't screw it up, you won't/can't either. I recommend you check out Affilimax Conversions for a great place to start learning and applying the techniques of Affiliate Marketing. This product is even of value to the seasoned Affiliate or IM marketer.

Here is what they have to offer. How to drive traffic to your site, what kind of site to have for marketing, making Twitter profitable and not a time waster, and many other areas of required knowledge. The biggest point here, this product and methods are proven in real life and not as theory. It does work and will work for you.

So, if this is an area you are even remotely interested in researching for your own benefit or as an additional, highly profitable stream of income, this is the product for your journey. There are many other bonuses to this program including a professional, live, forum for members only. Nothing like having a place to go and ask any question without feeling like you're admitting ignorance, or worse, stupidity. They openly tell you there is no such thing and treat every question with respect and honesty.

This is by no means the panacea of IM or Affiliate Marketing training programs available. One must always consider the investment in one's self to learn something new and have fun doing it. In this case you will notice the listed price on the website is $37. As an introductory incentive and limited time offer through my link. You will actually be investing only $23 for the entire training package, worth well over $100 at a minimum. Learning just one golden nugget of information is enough to set you on your way to a profitable income source. I know the creator of this product and his background is impeccable in this field. He has learned the hard way and generously shares his knowledge and experiences for the benefit of others so they do not have to reinvent the wheel.

I invested in this product because of the high quality and honesty of the information I know I need. I will progressively market this Affiliate program once I finish reading the entire package. I expect this will save me a great deal of time, trial and error, and money in the process. This article is not meant to be a sales page but an introduction to this product and my interest in sharing my discovery with you. It may, or may not, apply to you and that's okay. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you received some value from the experience.

Check out Affilimax Conversions and see if it is right for you at this point in your journey and quest for legitimate and honest information. This training includes Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing, two training programs for the price of one. You will also find the presentation of this information refreshing as there is only honesty and no hype about it. Enjoy!

Are You Ready, Assisted Living and Providing for Your Elderly Parents?

2009-03-12T03:58:00.007-04:00

When was the last time you really looked at your living parents? Are you just going along, living your own life with simply courteous and possibly timely interactions with your parents? Are you prepared for their ultimate progressive aging and all of the personal, financial, emotional, and psychological challenges this will bring to them and the family?

These are question you should be asking yourself right now if your parents are over 65 and/or have a deteriorating situation in their lives. This may come as a big surprise to you, but you need to step up and take responsibility now, for what is sure to come in the proper, respectful, elder care of your parents. I know, you're shaking your head saying that's not your problem or even your priority right now. I can tell you from personal experience, you do not want to wait and have your hand forced to take action in the midst of a personal tragedy involving one or both of your parents. This may include the death of either parent, the injury, stroke, heart attack, or some other sudden onset medical situation, or the development of dementia or Alzheimer's.

If you aren not on top of this situation now, you are in for a traumatic and one of the most challenging experiences of your life. Let me share with you my personal experience in dealing my my elderly parents who both have declining mental and medical challenges.

My siblings and extended family members, have seen my parent's go from extremely vibrant, active, gregarious people to two people who stay in their home, very little travel even locally, and no socialization at all. My Dad. 86, has a short term memory of about two minutes on a lucent day. Spending any length of time with him is like being stuck in the movie "50 First Dates" with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, all of the time.

We figure he started losing control of the home financial management aspects back in mid 2006. Bills not being paid, cancellation of all of his insurances including an 18 year old long term care policy that would have taken care of them for assisted living and support. Cancellation of their medigap insurance policy, and he totally lost control of all of his asset accounts such as annuities, CDs, savings and checking accounts. My Mom, 84, has always had what we called the "Peter Pan Syndrome" and never really wanted to grow up living in a totally optimistic world. Don't get me wrong, she was an awesome Mom.

This description only scratches the surface of what we have to deal with on a daily basis. Since we, the siblings, were not in a position to, or chose not to, push assisted living maybe two years ago; we were smacked in the head with a 2x4 when my Mom fell and fractured her hip at age 84. We were thrown into survival mode and things were so bad in trying to deal with my parents we were relegated to trying to live life a half day at a time vs. a day at a time.

My Dad was obviously totally lost without my Mom's assistance, slid into major depression, constant confusion, frequent emotional breakdowns, and unable to care for himself. We were scared to death he was still actively driving. Mom, in the meantime, going in and out of the hospital and rehab center, was completely confused, noncompliant, uncooperative, wouldn't eat, never knew where she was nor when it was at any time.

Luckily, some forward thinking action was agreed to and taken by my parents. Under great pressure from the siblings, they updated their Will, obtained a complete Power of Attorney, Medical Directives, Living Will, and Living Trust. We were so lucky this occurred when it did. We learned very rapidly my Dad, who tightly controlled all financial matters not willing to share information with us, had mentally checked out. We had to perform and clandestine search of his home office, coined the "black hole," to try and locate accounts, account numbers, locations, timeline of asset movements, current bills, and balances.

After four of us spent a day in his office, you couldn't even tell we had been in there. We cleaned out trash, he never threw anything away, consolidated important files, and emptied boxes of still wrapped magazines from 2004. The only advancement was we could see the carpet. The lesson here? Coordinate and share information with and about your elderly parents now while they are still cognizant and can assist in the accurate organization of this pertinent information. Don't wait like we did or you are so screwed!

The longer my parents were separated, my Dad living in the house alone, my Mom moving from the hospital to rehab center, events occurring with her medical condition, back to the hospital, back to the rehab center, and back to the hospital. Heck! No wonder my Mom never knew where she was located. We could see daily the severe declination in mental and medical health of both of them. We made it the prime priority to get them back together ASAP, whatever it would take.

The assisted living communities we visited all seemed to have from a six month to two year waiting list. We were referred to a brand new community and learned they had one available apartment, no one had lived in, and they were in the process of making it a model. We made the decision immediately, upon confirming the approximate net worth and location of assets, to commit and take the opening. You know how things just seem to happen when you most need them to? Someone's hand was guiding us on this journey.

We found a service, Door to Door Solutions, with a business niche unique to organizing, packing, moving, unpacking, and setting up, elderly people moving from their houses, downsizing into assisted living apartments. They do everything and the result is amazing. When my Dad walked into his new apartment for the first time, he saw rooms all organized, neat, containing his own furniture and wall hangings. This, to ease the transition and guarantee immediate comfort in the new surroundings. I cringe to think what it would have take for us to do this on our own.

We were able to successfully move my parents into this top of the line community. The steps you have to go through for admission are many and not simple. A great deal of logistics and coordination of events is required along with patience, planned actions, and cooperation of all parties. The reunion surprise of my parents and getting them successfully into a quality living environment produced a truly "Hallmark" story.

We still have a huge job of liquidating remaining property, my parents adjustment to the new living environment, the serious application of the "assisted" part of living, and their acceptance of a new lifestyle. Is all of this blood, sweat, and tears worth the end result? You bet it is! There is no greater honor than to be there to validate the love, trust, and execution of the best interests of your parents, in their greatest time of need during this life changing journey.

Don't wait, do it now. Taking positive and organized actions now will make yours and your parent's life's transition so much smoother and easier. Don't waste your opportunity to make it a great day to remember!

Quality Reading is an Escape and Growth Experience

2009-03-04T11:56:00.018-05:00

I've come to realize, while dealing with these emotionally and physically exhausting challenges involving my elderly parents, I need a way to escape. Talking to my two dogs isn't quite doing the trick, my wife is also living this experience and we get tired of talking about this situation. What can I do to break the train of thoughts, frustrations, constant situational evaluations and adjustments? I am sure not in a position to go for a nice long run, as much as I used to enjoy that type of freedom and escape. So I've turned to reading.

If you are so inclined, check out these books and my reviews and you will have a great insight into my personality and what drives me to be the "unique" person I am being in life. I have placed my personal recommendations throughout this article for your interest and convenience. Many of the covers are remarkable in themselves.

I have actually taught myself to read faster, since my stroke created such a challenge with the cognitive and visual residual deficiencies. It has amazed me how you can teach your body to relearn functions we take for granted in everyday life. I must admit to you though, unlike my wife who can read with the dogs barking, TV on NFL network, washer running, and me dancing naked in front of her (OK, this is a scary enough visual but you get my point.), I can tolerate no distractions at all. I prefer reading in the early morning when it is quiet, no outside noises, no TV, and everybody is still asleep.

I have found through trial and error I love to read books that I feel are of value to my personal education and growth. I am going to show you a few of the books I've read lately I highly recommend and you will be able to locate them immediately from this page without having to search for them on the net. I've even posted a few of my book reviews on my blog below, on Amazon.com, B&N, and published ezine articles.

I can't leave without highly recommending my foundational books for my life. I admit, one must be ready and open to the principles and teachings presented in these books or the message is never received. Even then, one must be prepared and motivated to actually take action on what is learned.

I hope this has given you additional insight into Craig Mattice as an individual, what has had and is having such a pronounced impact on my life. Especially in light of my recent and current challenges. My philosophy has become one of not accepting "problems" but only "challenges." Challenges can always be overcome, resulting in "accomplishments."

So, my friends, read and grow rich in life through success, personally and professionally. The opportunities and options for success are unlimited. I wish you great and continued success.

"Make it a great day to remember!"

Learn from ME, Do Not Ignore Dealing with Elderly Parents

2009-03-01T08:20:00.011-05:00

I’ve been missing in action for a couple of weeks due to a situation for which I take blame. You see, I have great parents. My Dad is a retired Army LtCol. And my Mom is a professional mother and home maker. Both are very successful in rearing six children. My Dad did an excellent job preparing for the future especially with the goal of my Mom being secure should anything happen to him. Today, my Dad is 86, my Mom is 84, and my story begins.

We’ve noticed my parent’s gradual decline physically and mentally with increased acceleration in the past two years. I have always been an outspoken and strong proponent of moving them into a very nice assisted living community for socialization with others of their own generation and future care if and when things deteriorate. They, especially my Dad, would hear nothing of it. My Mom is open minded to the idea and attracted to the fact that it would greatly improve her life by removing the housework duties of everyday and worrying about taking care of Dad.

My Dad has developed severe dementia with a severely impaired short term memory problem of about three minutes in duration. If you remember the movie “50 First Dates” with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, then you can relate to this situation. A further challenge is his severe loss of hearing meaning he must be looking at you and you speaking loudly for him to comprehend what is being communicated. We’ve suspected he was losing control of monitoring his own finances, bills, and other home management responsibilities; of which, he has always been very competent, meticulous in recordkeeping, and timely in execution. For his age his health is good considering he has had four angioplasties, two heart attacks, a quintuple bypass, and three, yes, that’s three knee replacements. Trust me, it’s complicated.

My Mom is still rather lucent, still sharp in her own way yet is diagnosed with dementia, Type 2 Diabetes, unmonitored, otherwise in good health. She has become unkept in obvious ways and isn’t too concerned about that situation. As a result of losing so much weight when first diagnosed with Diabetes and following the diets, she has a great deal of hanging skin on her body. She was once five foot tall and probably five foot or more around. Now she’s thinner and under five foot.

On Valentine’s Day, February 14th, of this year, she passed out, fell, breaking a bone chip off and fracturing her hip. She was hospitalized for several days, transferred to a rehab assisted living center, where she was noncompliant with PT, apathetic, and would not eat. That improved somewhat within a few days. She then passed out in the dining room and ended up in the hospital again, malnourished, with an unknown infection. She is currently expected to be released in a day or so back to the rehab center for continued rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, my Dad is totally lost and confused without her. Heck! Together they almost made one person. Apart, it’s a very sad situation. My family’s hand has been forced and people who would not take charge before, regarding their situation, are now scrambling under a great deal of pressure, to get my Mom and Dad back together, rehabilitated, and into a very nice assisted living community all on short notice. We all know there is no such thing as admission to any quality assisted living community on short notice. Most have a six month to a year waiting list.

We, the local children, took the initiative to search through my Dad’s office in their home. Obviously his office is the “black hole” of all financial and management documents. We learned very quickly that in their infinite wisdom they canceled their 18 year long term care policy last year and we are well past the reinstatement period. They had canceled the medigap insurance, not paid their 2007 income taxes, and if it wasn’t coming out of their checking account as a direct withdraw were up to a year behind in other payments other than utilities, cable, and some other monthly expenses.

All indications were he lost control of their finances as far back as mid 2006. With the economic situation he was moving funds all over the place and a timeline and current status of assets, accounts, and account numbers must be established immediately.

We planned a family “intervention” with my Dad one evening this last week. We presented our case, advised him of our decision and the location of the assisted living community, which amazingly allowed us to have their model suite, he and Mom would be moving to immediately. In addition, we removed his car keys and his vehicle from the premises as he is no longer a safe driver, a threat to himself and others. He complied willingly. Dad obviously took all of this losing control of his life, Mom being in the hospital, loss of his freedom to drive, very hard as was expected. With his memory challenges he calls several times a day asking when he is going to be taken to visit my Mom and then calls wanting to know who has his car, where is his car, return it or he’s calling the police. It doesn’t matter how many times or how well we explain things, they don’t sink in or stick and he doesn’t connect the dots at all.

The point of sharing this personal family challenge is to let you know NOW is the time to approach this with your parents, especially if they are over 65. Establish a living trust, living wills, medical directives, power of attorney - financial and medical, list of assets, accounts, account numbers, balances, and monthly bills. Learn and have access to everything you will need if something happens. Do it now while they are still mentally competent to understand and take positive action. Get all of your siblings on board and on the same page. It is of no use to fight a two front war when trying to act in the best interests of your parents. Had we forced the issue with a unified front two years ago, my parents would be covered with a long term care policy, medigap insurance, and be well taken care of, happy, and together in a quality assisted living community.

We are blessed with the opportunity to admit my parents to a top of the line assisted living community that is only 11 months old but of an established professional corporation. My parents have great medical care and primary care physicians and as a family are blessed to all be on the same page, working together to accomplish this mission.

I will be posting another article about this after things settle down regarding additional lessons learned I wish to share with you. Don’t make our mistake. If you love and respect your parents, take the responsibility and the positive actions now.

Update, 66 Days Post Stroke

2009-02-18T08:57:00.003-05:00

I have been requested by many people to provide an update on my condition and situation since having the near fatal stroke on December 11, 2008. I hope you enjoyed and appreciated my two previous videos. I appears people are very surprised and grateful of my recovery rate. I'm frustrated at my own progress but that's just me.

My Mom would always tell me while growing up, "Be patient!" "You have to learn patience!" OK! I learned patience...........................I just don't "practice" it. I find it difficult still to talk even though people tell me they can understand me very well and that I may even sound and communicate better than themselves. I watch this current video with continued frustration.

I must admit, my attitude toward life and other people has changed for the better, I think. Many people say I am not the same person I was before the stroke. Take that for whatever it's worth to you.

Here is the new video I created on February 17th, exactly 66 days out from the stroke. I hope you enjoy it, feel free to share it, and leave any comments you would like. I appreciate your taking the time to stop by and view my video.

Can The Disabled Have Success with Network Marketing/MLM?

2009-02-12T08:47:00.004-05:00

How many times have people said to you, “oh, but you’re disabled, you can’t have a home based business.” Much less, their vocal opinions about network marketing and MLM, possibly being a viable business option for the disabled. Let’s get one thing straight right up front; there are more people who are disabled between their ears with no dreams then physically disabled people with dreams.

So you may be totally disabled? Maybe you use assistive devices to help you function throughout the day including wheelchairs and forearm crutches. Maybe, because of your disability, you’re no longer the “sharpest knife in the draw,” but that doesn’t mean you don’t have aspirations and dreams of building a personal business, making new friends, helping other people, and becoming personally and financially successful.

You don’t have insurmountable “problems,” rather you have interesting “challenges.” What do I mean by that? “Problems,” just the word is depressing and offensive. Once corrected you then only have “fixed” problems, still depressing. On the other hand, “challenges” is a whole other paradigm of thinking. “Challenges” are just that and can be overcome by going through, over, under, or around them to success. Then, your “challenges” become “accomplishments.” Much more appealing and positive, don’t you agree?

I know for a fact if you can wheel around your house up to a desk, reasonably communicate on the phone, type with at least a pencil or finger, use a computer, you can be successful in your own home based business. That is a FACT! Don’t you dare let anyone tell you different!

Now, we must discuss how network marketing (NWM) and MLM may best fit into your search for such a satisfying business of your own. There are hundreds of NWM’g and MLM businesses available to you through quick searches on the internet. Warning! Warning! Will Robinson! Just kidding! Do NOT believe everything you read and hear. Make it a point to visit professional forums, such as MLM.com and WAHM, for the search and review of existing information on companies, or even specific people you may be interested in partnering with in your business. You will soon learn who the reputable and professional participants who visit these forums and so generously share their knowledge and experiences.

This is an excellent link recently shared on MLM.com regarding this specific subject. http://wapd.org, World Association of Persons with disAbilities. You will find this source a wealth of pertinent information and a great place to continue your search. Look for companies that have a strong ability to build online, have a marketing system, quality products, and strong support and training systems in place. Another great source to learn about some top quality companies is www.dsa.org, Direct Sales Association, which has strong requirements for membership. This is not to say if a quality company is not a member that they should not be evaluated. There are also many sources on the internet and contacts through MLM.com who have published ebooks on the right way to evaluate a NWM/MLM company and opportunity.

You know you have these desires, drives, and dreams of your own business success inside. Don’t ignore them, especially in this day and age when so much opportunity is available. Don’t even listen to the “friends” and “family” who think they know best about this. Odds are, they don’t, they won’t, and aren’t willing to research to understand. We refer to these types of helping people as “dream stealers!” Don’t think you need to justify your dreams to anyone but yourself. Research, make new friends, have fun, and make a new life for yourself. You CAN do this!

Successful Living By Choice, A Journey with Craig Mattice

We Learn Something New About People Everyday, Today's No Exception

A Letter from Jesus about Christmas

Christmas “IS” the Season of “IS,”- Christ "IS" the Reason and It MUST Be Kept as “IS”

"Black Friday" a Day of Misplaced Priorities

Veteran's Day 2011 ~ Dedicated to All Who Have Served ~

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." ~ John F. Kennedy

Squeezing Every Moment Out Of Life is Exhausting!

A Tough Day Must be Met with a Tough Attitude

Disease, Disney, Death and Living On

This IS America, Expect to BE an American

Could This New Inspirational Motivating Book Go Viral?

Announcing My Book, "Evaluate, Adapt, And Overcome: Accept No Limits In Life" is Available!

Under A Lot of Stress Lately? Look At This and Relax

Writing a Book is Simple but Not Easy: My Progress

What We All Take For Granted, We Never Should

Encouraged Challenge Accepted: I Am Writing A Book

Ramblings and Readings During a Stressful Week

Are Your Eyes Open, But You Do Not See Life's Wisdom?

Life Happens - We Must Meet All Challenges Head On

Patriot Guard, Protectors of the Fallen Soldier and Doing What's Right

Craig & Joyce's Hawaiian Princess Cruise Vacation Journal

Prince William County PD Early Days 1976

Ever Get Consumed by a New Project or is it OCD?

Contrary to Tradition, I Am NOT Wishing All a Happy New Year!

Hawaiian Princess Cruise Vacation

Do Not Give Others Permission to Determine Your Life or Your Personal Limits

Not the Birthday I Expected - Wrap Up

Not the Birthday I Expected

Successful Living Doesn't Happen Without Other People

Are You Really Exploiting The "Living of Life?"

Are You Designing a Life or Just Making a Living?

Do You Practice The "One Helping Two" Concept in Network Marketing?

You've Been Too Quiet! What's Going On?

Marketing Paradigm Shift: I am "NOT" a Guru or Expert to "DO" This!

Regardless Our Known Future, We MUST Endeavor to Live Each Day

Can One Person Make a Difference: A Teenager Did This!

New Experience with a Pain Specialist to a Physiatrist. Physia what???

Memorial Day Rememberance

Ever Wanted to Escape to a Tropical Island?

How to Spend Your 36th Wedding Anniversary, Or Not!

Is This Marriage Worth Saving?

In The End We Learn It Is Only A New Beginning

Easter - A Time of New Beginnings

Status Update

An MLM Book That Can Save You $1,000's in Time and Money!

MLM/NWM An Industry Where You Can Actually Enjoy Working

Self Discovery and Growth From the Strangest Places! Embrace it! Even Exploit it!

My Review on My Facebook Visual Bookshelf

You Have Given Two of the Greatest Gifts in Life

You Never Know What Tomorrow Will Bring You

Life's Like That You Know.....

Craig's Life's Lessons:

Rule 11-Choose those whom you have confidential conversations judiciously.

Rule 12-When a confidence is broken, learn once and don't trust again.

Rule 13-When someone ask you to reveal and identify a confidential source/conversation, DO NOT! and never trust them for anything.

I Lost a Lions Club Member and Friend

Annoucing "Belief Builder for Success" Website Debut

My Experience in a PC Trojan Virus Hell!

A Couple of GREAT Books I've Just Read!

Cruising is The BEST Vacation....Even With Relatives!

You've GOT to Read This Book! "Money and the Law of Attraction"

Catch Up on My Current Readings

What are you doing to become that which you desire to "Be?"

Experience Quality Personal Development Reading - My Reviews

Funny, the directions our lives take for success.

How can I have a true mindset of success and prosperity?

Life Beyond Wealth, Are YOU Up for the Challenge?

What is the Truth About Affiliate Marketing Training?

Are You Ready, Assisted Living and Providing for Your Elderly Parents?

Quality Reading is an Escape and Growth Experience

Learn from ME, Do Not Ignore Dealing with Elderly Parents

Update, 66 Days Post Stroke

Can The Disabled Have Success with Network Marketing/MLM?