The Rapture
July 23, 2007
Cant Afford Illness in America
July 22, 2007
I had become too sick to live in America.
Even with private insurance, even with Medicare, we couldn’t keep up with our medical bills. So we found a country where we could, and we left.
Picture this: A childless, middle-aged couple both gainfully employed, both college educated, living a frugal but happy life, and the husband gets sick with an incurable chronic illness. The sick husband has to quit work because the illness is very serious. But, not to worry, after four long years and a legal battle, he gets on Social Security Disability and therefore qualifies for Medicare. There is also the added security of the wife’s health insurance to cover the expensive prescriptions and everything else Medicare doesn’t. Everything will be fine because they are insured, and they will continue to live a happy yet frugal life in spite of the chronic illness. Or will they?
Following In the Masters Footsteps
July 21, 2007
In these interesting times of change, millions of people the world over are struggling to find their personal truth - a truth that will sustain them through their present moments and through whatever the future may bring. There are as many definitions of what will happen to this planet in the next fifteen years as there are belief systems, but in the midst of the dissension is one commonality, and that is worldwide agreement that change - in whatever form it takes - is inevitable. The world just can’t go on the way it is; something has to give, somewhere.
In many ways, things are very much the way they were 2,000 years ago, when Jesus of Nazareth began his ministry. He taught from the perspective that the Jewish culture in which he was raised had lost their focus, and with it, their relationship with God. He warned the Pharisees - who were much more concerned with doctrine than with truth - that they had missed the point, and he offered clear and simple instruction for anyone who chose a path that took them back to a level of God consciousness in their lives.
How To Achieve Absolute Happiness
July 20, 2007
Everyone wants to be happy. When you decide to be happy you are opening the door to love and inner peace. Many people are ready to spent millions of dollars to find happiness. Some of the affluent people in the world have spent their lives searching for the key to a happy life. Happiness can be described as a feeling of joy, excitement, pleasure, serenity, calmness and tranquility. It is something which you experience within yourself. Happiness is a choice. You can be happy, healthy and wealthy or sad, miserable and poor. Your mind is a very powerful instrument. As you programme your mind towards happiness, your subconscious mind starts to believe them and sooner or later your negative thoughts become fewer and happiness becomes part of your life.
How To Build A Business Ethics Program
July 19, 2007
Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business ethics and legal compliance. Yet a recent National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) survey of 280 corporate CEOs and directors found that “only one of three directors felt that they were highly effective in ensuring legal compliance”.
Ethics in Business
Most companies realize that they need to develop and implement a business ethics and compliance program.
An effective program can:
? Establish a code of conduct that reduces risk of criminal behavior
? Detect wrongdoing, foster quick investigations, minimize consequences
? Demonstrate company’s ethical/legal philosophy during an investigation
? Reduce fines if company is found guilty of wrongdoing
? Enhance company reputation and stature
Looking at the Options
But how do you build an effective program? Companies find themselves with three options to build the program:
? Develop in-house from scratch
? Hire an external consultant
? Use a pre-written manual
And most of these companies learn a few lessons - sometimes the hard way.
Making a Strong Company Policy
10 Feng Shui Tips for a Better Life
July 19, 2007
Ever walked into a house that felt like home? Ever reminisced about the best year of your life, and wondered why everything came together for you? It could be Feng Shui.
Simply put, Feng Shui is about creating a harmonious environment. It’s the ancient Chinese Science and Art of placement, intended to improve our health, harmony, longevity, career and wealth.
Pronounced, "Fung Shway", it was a jealously guarded secret for thousands of years. Now, the benefits of Feng Shui can be enjoyed by anyone. In fact, Feng Shui is a part of everyday life for many Australian businesses, home owners, decorators, and architects.
June from June Turner Designs and Lifestyles has been an expert Feng Shui practitioner for 13 years. "Feng Shui can be simple or involved ? whatever you’re comfortable with. Decorate a room or buy a home that is perfect for your family."
The key is energy (or Qi "Chee"). June offers ten quick tips that can improve the flow, transformation, and containment of Qi in your life:
1) Remove shoes before entering a home. Don’t take your problems in with you.
2) Cook at least one meal a day and eat at the table as a family.
Choosing the Christian Path
July 18, 2007
- 147.5 million Americans claim affiliation with a religious group
- 94% of those who claim affiliation are members of Christian or quasi-Christian denominations
Every culture offers every opportunity for evaluation on the part of the individual as to whether the spiritual beliefs which that culture encompasses are spiritual beliefs that are comfortable for the individual living within it; it is a matter of conscious choice on the part of every individual in every lifetime to decide for themselves whether the doctrine that is being taught - the doctrine that is predominant throughout the culture - is a doctrine that ‘rings true’ for their inner self.
In many cases, individuals have found that the doctrine advocated by the Christian sect which constituted their upbringing did not ‘pass the test’ of meeting the requirements for being the spiritual foundation on which their lives were based, and - as a result - many individuals have turned their backs on the Christian faith that dominates their society. In some areas, a ‘cold war’ has been declared, with Christians condemning free thinkers as ‘false prophets of God’ and free thinkers condemning Christians as ‘narrow-minded and judgmental.’
Being In-Between Religions
July 17, 2007
Who said religion has to last a lifetime?
When I was in my thirties, people used to ask me what religion I was. I’d stutter a little bit and then explain that I was, by my own definition, "in-between religions."
It raised a lot of eyebrows, but my answer always made perfect sense to me. I had outgrown the religion I grew up in and drifted away from the church of my youth, but I hadn’t found a new religion that fit my adult lifestyle and my adult beliefs yet. I still believed in God, and did the best I knew how to be a good person without weekly guidance from my Sunday School teacher. It never occurred to me then (although I’ve heard enough about it since) that separating from a church was the same to some people as separating from God himself; I was surprised that anyone would consider God and a church ? or should I say God and THE church ? as one and the same.
Happiness - Not Something To Pursue
July 16, 2007
Perhaps the most sought after thing in the world is happiness. Our constitution even provides freedom for the pursuit of happiness. People seek out many things in that pursuit . . . power, money, love, sex, food, etc.
Happiness is not something to pursue. It’s a decision we make for ourselves. Will Rogers may have said it best. He said, "Most folks are about as happy as they decide to be!" You have to decide to be happy. You may be amazed how everything else then falls into place!
My wife and I made that decision years ago. It works! But, you have to decide to be happy every day and regardless what happens. That’s not always easy. Sometimes it can be a decision you have to make every other minute. You can always come up with "reasons" to be down, if you let yourself. Know what? You can learn to take even bad times in stride! As one 70 year old man said* concerning what he had learned in his lifetime, "Don’t sweat the small stuff . . . and it’s all small stuff!" It takes practice, but it can be learned. Try it! Make that decision right now!
Some Villain Thoughts About a Container Village
July 15, 2007
Preview: “Shipping containers” have yet nothing to do with “housing” in Romania. Is there any chance that they will soon? Belonging to Eastern European block, released in 1989 from communist oppression, Romania has already experienced 15 years of less and less stunning freedom.
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I read a few articles about shipping container housing. It took me about five minutes to realize this subject makes your mind frolic endlessly on an imaginary (however not utopian) land. Those articles belong to some very respectable gentlemen (at least that was the impression they made on me, at first reading) ? that praise living in shipping containers.
Let’s go cheap
A 40 foot-long shipping container could reach to $1,500-2,000. I started asking myself questions about how this subject could become a solution for homeless people in Romania (that’s where I live), where flats cost (at least) $20,000. And they’re not 40 foot-long.
At the same time, Romania has a lot of peripheral categories: the poor, the old, the young, the unemployed, the pitman, the gypsy, the orphan, the student.
Could they benefit from this recent discovery that living in some kind of shoe-boxes can be really cool and trendy? I’ll try to answer that.
