Alaska

/Users/annasampley/Pictures/2010_09_06/IMG_1457.JPG

Faith

My faith is a gift from God. It never leaves me. It is with me at all times, ready to be applied in right ways. By exercising faith, I welcome all that I desire. I say "yes" to God and "yes" to my good.

When I am uncertain about which way to turn, I call upon faith to assist me. Faith surrounds me. It is love unwavering--like the arms of a dear friend embracing me, letting me know, "I am here for you always." My faith allows me to surrender outcomes to Spirit. When I use faith rightly, I actively draw my good to me, bringing forth the visible from the invisible.

I exercise faith and see clearly God's good in me and in my life. I allow the Holy Spirit to work through me, and I am richly blessed.

Massage enhances your mood.

This is a photo of Jillian, our wonderful masseuse.

Few people take adequate care of themselves. Many women are caregivers, looking after children, aging adults, and their own careers or relationships. All of these things can be demanding, so escaping to a spa and getting a massage is a terrific way to step into another world, at least briefly, to enjoy the luxury and comfort. Afterward, you’ll be ready to re-enter the everyday world of stress and strain because you have stepped outside temporarily to take a breather.

Releasing feel-good endorphins into your system, massage creates a sense of well being that can make anyone feel better. It’s hard to stay in a bad mood when a professional masseuse is stroking your body in a way that releases natural substances from the brain that evoke a pleasurable response. Plus, just getting away from the hectic pace of everyday life and enjoying a personal indulgence can give you a calmer, happier frame of mind.

Would you like to speed read?

How I Started Speed Reading

My first introduction to the concept of speed reading was from a book, Breakthrough Rapid Reading. I’ve since moved away from a few of the concepts taught in the book, but the core ideas were transformative. In only a few weeks, my average reading speed went from roughly 450 words per minute, to over 900.

More than just words per minute, speed reading helped instill a new passion for reading. Because I gained more control over my reading abilities, my desire to read went up. That new motivation made me a voracious reader, in one two year period, I had read over 150 books.

Here is a lesson I’ve learned from one year of speed reading:

Use a Pointer

Your eyes don’t actually stay fixed in one spot. They are frequently making brief twitches away from your center of focus to gather more information. These movements are called saccades and they represent the first tool novice readers can use to read faster.

Normally, when your eye twitches away, it must relocate in its previous position. Unfortunately, when you read, this position is constantly moving. Saccades (and just general distractions) cause you to slow down as you must search for your current reading position. The solution is to use a pointer.

The easiest pointer is just the tip of your finger. Simply place your index finger below a line of text and move it as you read. Initially, using a pointer will be slower than regular reading. But after you’re used to the motion, you can read more effectively.

Do Men have shorter attention spans than Women?

He doesn't have a shorter attention span; women are just biologically wired to pay attention to different things than men are, says Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., director of the Chesapeake ADHD Center of Maryland, in Annapolis. Researchers have found that male brains tend to be attracted to things that are analytical (sports scores) and visual (Heidi Klum), while female brains focus more on nonverbal and verbal communication (a stimulating conversation).

That said, women deal with attention problems more frequently during their reproductive years because of hormone fluctuations. “New research shows that estrogen impacts brain chemistry and that it’s harder to concentrate when levels are low, like during a premenstrual week, perimenopause, and menopause,” says Nadeau. Pregnancy is more complicated: Estrogen levels are at their peak, so many women experience an increased ability to concentrate. But because pregnancy can also be a time of fatigue and stress, lots of women find it’s harder than ever to focus.

Intention

I fulfill my purpose as I share love with the world.

Mother Teresa once said, "It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." What a beautiful illustration of the power of right intention and the blessing of acting in love.

Discover your Obsession

If you want to be good at something, you have to to be obsessive. You have to do the thing all the time, and when you’re not doing it, you have to be thinking about doing it. Why do you think business people who make millions are so good at it? They’re always doing business. Even when they’re not working, they’re thinking about better ways to do business. Same with the greatest writers and painters. They obsess all the time. Ruby, if you want to be good at writing, you need to be obsessive about it.”