Dearest 2017

I'm writing to you today, Dearest 2017, in the hope that you will listen.  I beg you to heed what I'm saying because if we have another year like 2016, I might have to seriously think differently how I get through to you.  (Note:  This was written at the end of 2016)

Yes, there were some good moments in 2016, like when I finally got to marry the love of my life.  I will honor and cherish that day for sure, even if many didn't agree.  It was a good day, and that's what I will remember.

However, there were some pretty terrifying moments like the Pulse Attack, an election season gone wild, and some other horrific acts of violence.  The entire year seemed to pit one person against the other, just because of what one person thought was right while others didn't.

There were individual moments for me where some turned on me and left me lying alone in agony and despair in the gutter.  Some moments left me wondering what direction I was walking and if I had the strength to find my way through the fog.

I'm hoping that in 2017, people may start to understand what it means to be human and to love one another and respect one another.  My land, we don't always need to be right about all this superficial stuff as much as everyone thinks they do.  May that change in 2017.

Hopefully, some of the problems that we face in the world will be solved, or at least I hope so -- from poverty and global climate issues to just not trying to control everyone with beliefs and opinions.

Hopefully, in 2017, we will begin to learn what it means to be conscious and aware, not just disconnected and numb.  I know that's asking a lot, dearest 2017, but it is my hope.  There are far too many that sleep and slumber, afraid to wake up and feel.

May 2017 bring about a year where we change our mind-numbed practices through online social media, and we truly begin to discover what others mean in our fight to advance our global civilization.  We're all on this journey together, and if we work together, we'll make it.  If we stay divided, we will most likely fail.  May 2017 bring this change about and lift us to greater heights.

Dearest 2017, I would love to see child molesters and abusers of all types find that they are no longer healthy members of our society.  Maybe we could stop turning a blind eye to those that abuse our children.  If the children are our future, we are severely failing them.

I hope that by the time we get to the end of 2017, that we're doing a lot less screaming at one another and listening to a lot more.  It feels like it is one constant screamfest every day, and I don't even think anyone listens to anyone anymore.

So, I'm writing this to be posted at the end of 2017, and we'll see if any of this matters or comes true.  Heck, by the time we get to the end of the year, we may have other things that require our attention and focus.  If not, please Dear 2017 - let's work on these things and see what we can accomplish.  We will all be better for it.

Signed,
A Human

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Blog Post And Images (c) 12/28/17 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required in writing before any part of this blog is reprinted, reworded, transmitted or used in any format. 
• Feel free to share the blog post LINK and a brief summary.  

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Need A Good Webhost for Wordpress?

I know this is off topic!  Unfortunately, to keep the lights on, I have to do a little bit of this.  So, I only promote products that I love and use, and that help me.  This one happens to be a new web hosting company for my WordPress sites.

Lately, I've been having major issues with a webhost that I've been with for many years.  Most of the time, the webhost was good (LunarPages).  In the past six months to a year, they just weren't cutting it for me.  Their service was hit or miss and more miss than hit.  The performance of their servers was really dragging my sites down.

I tried to work with them.  I really did, but the support responses were so poor that I felt frustrated.  I signed up for their managed shared support and thought that this would help.  Instead, I had someone try to lecture me about something on which they were flat wrong.  Fortunately a supervisor stepped in and helped in that one situation.

Anyway, I got tired of continual problems, lack of support, and performance issues on my sites.  I started to look elsewhere, and fortunately, I found a place called SiteGround.com.

I was nervous to switch, but when LunarPages messed up my account so bad at one point that I could not access my site, it was the last straw.  I made the switch to SiteGround.com, and I have not regretted it.

LunarPages did contact me after I left negative feedback and reviews about them asking if they could do anything to keep me and some clients as a customer.  Unfortunately, I had tried to reach out to them many times, and they dismissed me, so in my mind it was too late.  Plus the server performance was so much better for me that there was no way I was going back.

What I Love About SiteGround.com

1. The speed of my website and the WordPress dashboard are outstanding.  When I go to my site, it loads quickly.  There is no going to get a cup of coffee and waiting till it loads scenario.
2. Customer support has been excellent.  No, let me rephrase that.  They have been outstanding.  Not only did they follow up making sure I had my new account set up correctly, but they also helped when I had one thing I was not sure how to do.  In seven minutes on live support chat, the customer rep had the issues solved and corrected.
3. When I run GTMetrix.com on my account and start to look at page speed and performance, instead of my site taking 10 seconds to load, it now loads in about 2 seconds.  It is the same site, just transferred from LunarPages to SiteGround.com. 

An Extra Bonus With SiteGround.com

If you want to, you can apply for an affiliate account, which I did.  In fact, if you click on the banners or links here, you'll be helping me out.

But that's not all!  Even if you do not want to be an affiliate, they have a referral code, and for every friend that signs up for hosting with SiteGround, you get three months free on your hosting plan.  A nice little extra if you ask me!

See For Yourself

Don't just take my word for it, check out SiteGround.com and see for yourself.  I've been extremely impressed with this place, and I'm in the process of migrating all my stuff over.

I did sign up for the Go Geek plan with them because I have big plans for upcoming website development.

Need Help With Wordpress?

If you need help with your own wordpress site, just email me.  I do build wordpress sites and I help people with SEO.  I can also assist you in migrating your site from a host over to SiteGround.com .

Update On Professor Jay Tee Sleep Well CD

If you read my other blog post, you'll see me talking about why I picked up this hypnotherapy CD.  Last night, was my second time listening to the Sleep Well CD with Professor Jay Tee as I went to bed.  It was a different experience than the first night.

The first night, I was very tired from doing a lot of outside physical work, so maybe the experience was shaded by that.  However, last night I need to note that I had some Easter candy shortly before bed, so the sugar may not have been the best thing to do.  Yep - I had sugar candy right before bedtime.  *blush*

However, I noticed that I heard more of the audio tracks and speaking than I heard the night before.  Yet, the CD ended quickly, so I think I went way out.  I do remember hearing that I should stop the player and take the headphones off.

When I did that, I was able to drift back off to sleep.  My body felt warm, like a nice afternoon nap in the sun.  I felt physically more relaxed and my body was much less tense.

The only thing I noticed is that I woke up a few times staring into the darkness of the night.  My eyes and brain started to kick up thinking about all kinds of things.  At that moment, I focused on my breathing a little and was able to fall back to sleep.

It was not a night like the first where I slept through the entire night, but I did not at least have to get up and wait for myself to get sleepy.  I was able to sleep for the most part and stay in bed.  That is an improvement.

Waking up this morning, my body felt less tense and much more relaxed.  I feel a greater peace and calmness today.  So all-in-all, I probably didn't help myself eating the candy right before bed, but I was still able to get a pretty good night's sleep.  Waking up feeling better and more calm is a big improvement for me.

I'm going to keep working on this and I will keep writing some blog posts to share my experiences.  I like how Professor Jay Tee has the right inflections and speed of what he says at least for me personally.  I feel like I can easily follow along with him, rather than trying to decipher what it is that I'm supposed to do.

For now, I will keep working with it.

Stay tuned for more!

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Unlimited Abundance Live Masterclass is Back

If you've read my blog for any period of time, you will have seen me write about this.  I am both an affiliate and a user of the Unlimited Abundance program with Christie Marie Sheldon.  While I still have some ways to go, it has helped me tremendously.

I will post some links to things I have written on this topic and include some of the information about the Masterclass that is happening.

This is a free Masterclass.  It costs nothing to attend it and I've had some wonderful experiences just listening to the Masterclass.  All you have to do is click on the link and reserve your spot at the time that works for you.

Click here and sign up for the event right away

Here's some of the things you'll find in the masterclass

1. How Abundance Blocks Are Holding You Back.
2. Discover Your Personal Abundance Blocks
3. How Energy Clearing Works.
4. An Energy Clearing Session.
5. Tales of Unlimited Abundance.
6. Christie Marie Sheldon on the Hot Seat

Even if you're a skeptic and don't believe in things like this, I personally invite you to sign up for the Masterclass.  It is free.  You can decide after that if it is for you or not, but unless you listen to it, how will you know.

Click here and sign up for the event right away >>

 

Just one final note, if you plan on taking part in the program after the Masterclass, please make sure you purchase it through this link and not any other emails, so that I get credit for it.  I hate to make something this important into a sales pitch, but it is one of the ways I help support myself writing this blog every day.

  Blog Posts - My Experiences and Review:

• Feb 15, 2106
  Should I Buy Unlimited Abundance Program?
• Aug 12, 2015
  I Felt The Abundance Shift in Free Masterclass
• Dec 28, 2013
  Unlimited Abundance - Two Years Later

After you've listened to the Masterclass,  leave a comment and let me know what insights or shifts you had.  I would love to hear them!

Here's the link to sign up for the event!  See you there!  
>>> You can claim your spot here

12 Days On 180 Nutrition Natural Protein Superfood

This will be my daily account after being on 180 Nutrition for 12 days.  My friend purchased the 3 lb package of chocolate 180 Nutrition Natural Protein Superfood and so we are using it together.  Otherwise, if it was one person, you would get 30 days out of it I believe.

I will record my thoughts and observations from this and see how it goes.  Please note, that we always do a whole food smoothie in our Blendtec blender every morning.

Using the 180 Nutrition product is an additional step I am doing to help improve my own nutrition.  Our daily diet is at least 50% vegetables and if we try to consume as much as we can in a whole food manner.  We don't buy a lot of processed stuff and mostly drink water all day long.


Here's My 12 Days Of Observations

• Day 1 - Today I'm starting with my first 180 Nutrition smoothie.  I put the following into my little NutriBullet blender.  1 Banana, some ice, 1 scoop of 180 Nutrition, 3 heaping tablespoons of oatmeal, 1 teaspoon of chia seeds, 1 tablespoon of pecans, 1 tablespoon of slivered almonds and almond milk.  The thing I noticed is that I made it to thick.  It tasted fine with the chocolate flavor but was a little difficult to drink.  Tomorrow, I'll adjust the ingredients and add a little more almond milk.

• Day 2 - Today is the second day on it.  I pretty much made the smoothie as like yesterday, but I did not put chia seeds in.  For some reason, it seems like they don't blend in very good with the NutriBullet and I probably don't need them.  I also only used a half a banana today because that's all I had and tomorrow I'll go back to the full banana for just a little better overall taste.  I did notice though that I wasn't snacking all afternoon and that's a good thing.

• Day 3 - I'm noticing the same thing as before that I can withhold myself from snacking in the afternoon without gorging on sugary stuff later.  I'm trying to see if I can locate the ingredients to for the sugar-free brownies on the 180 Nutrition website and if I do, I'm going to make those.

• Day 4 - Last night I had a pretty rough night of sleep with nightmares.  So I'm not feeling really great today and the anxiety is high.  It was refreshing to drink this smoothie this morning but outside of that, I have nothing else to share.

• Day 5 - I took this right before doing some yard work and I didn't feel as fatigued and worn out as I normally do.  I'm not sure if it was the 180 Nutrition that helped or not but will test this out again soon.

• Day 6 - I noticed today that my appetite has increased and while I'm trying to not go to the junk food, I am not winning today.  I may need to eat something more solid and then try having this a little after that.  It could just be emotional stressors that are kicking things up and causing the increasing desire for junk food.

• Day 7 - Today was more normal with not feeling like I needed junk food.

• Day 8 - I love the taste of these and it feels refreshing.  It is almost like my body craves them.

• Day 9 - Had my nice chocolate smoothie this morning and so love it.  I just feel better when I start my day out with it.

• Day 10 - I notice that I feel more "powered" nutritionally in my body.  It isn't something I can state with facts, but more of a feeling.  I just don't feel as sluggish, so maybe this is really helping me more than I can see at the moment.

• Day 11 - I reached for the candy today, but I am able to control my desire for it more than I can without the smoothie.  One thing I am noticing is that for the first time in my life, I'm eating more good food in the morning hours.  Normally breakfast would make me sick to my stomach, but I am able to eat and feel good.  In fact, I find myself craving "GOOD and HIGH-quality food".

• Day 12 - It felt good today and it just feels so refreshing.  It feels like my day is complete when I drink a smoothie with the 180 nutrition.  I might sound like a walking commercial, but what I am saying is true.  I'm not embellishing it at all.

I had hoped to go longer recording my observations each day, but because of some travel and other things, my attempt here fell short.  Overall, I have noticed that my desire for bad junk food was diminished.  I noticed that my appetite was more controllable and that I felt better after having the 180 Nutrition Natural Protein Superfood.

I'm not saying any of this only because I want you to buy it.  It is what I experienced and I'm still taking this almost every day.  I notice it if I don't take it.  In fact, I look forward to the great tasting smoothie I make.

Right now as I finish writing this, I'm on my second bag of 180Nutrition, so hopefully, that says how much I like it.  You don't have to take my word for it, because you can try it out for yourself.

To Purchase 180 Nutrition

To be honest and upfront, I do earn a commission if you purchase the product, but again, I try to tell you honestly what it does for me.  I'm not one to scam others at all and if you try this product, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  I just try to offer things that I personally use and love.  They help me continue writing and producing this blog.

By the way, the Nutribullet that I'm using in the pictures is one I bought on Amazon.  It works great and I love it.  It is a 12 piece unit which gives you a lot of extra pieces and I love having extra stuff.  Click Nutribullet to find it on Amazon or just click the picture to the left.  We have been using it every day and have had no problems with it.  I highly recommend it for individual smoothies.  



For more grinding power, I would go with the Blendtec Blender.  I have written about our Blendtec Blender that we've been using over 7 years to make daily whole food smoothies.  I know there are cheaper blenders on the market, but I highly recommend the Blendtec.  It does an excellent job and as you can see, its been going for 7 years with no signs of it slowing down.  I personally don't buy cheap stuff that I have to replace frequently because I believe that is not good for our environment.

(click image to read)

Question Of The Day

Have you tried 180 Nutrition?

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Should I Buy Unlimited Abundance Program

I get one question so often that I thought I would write about this.  Will the Unlimited Abundance Program work for me and should I buy it?  For each person, the answer will be different and I can't tell you what you should do.  This is something that you will need to decided for yourself.

However, I can share with you what it did for me and hopefully that will help you.  These are personal observations and changes and I'm trying to boil them down in an abbreviated form.

If you look at some of the links at the end of this blog post, you will see more of the journey that brought me to this point and my review of Unlimited Abundance.  I normally never push any products on anyone unless they are life changing to me and they have worked for me.  Yes, I am an affiliate for Mind Valley on this product, but I only joined up with them after I saw what it was doing for me.  What I state here is how it has impacted my life.  It is an honest review, not a cookie-cutter piece following a script.

5 ways Unlimited Abundance helped me

#1 - Reprogramming My Mind To Let Go

For most of my life I have hung on to so many things that I told myself were truths and yet they were big fat lies.  For instance, I have told myself, "I don't deserve abundance" or "I am not good enough for abundance".  It isn't easy to let go of these long held things that we tell to our self.    The program is helping me identify those blocks and then with Christie Marie Sheldon's system, it is helping me let go of them.

#2 - Helping Move Past Anger

I am realizing finally just how much anger I have held within my body for so many years.  Yes, the things that happened to me make me angry and it is right to feel all that.  However, the anger is eating me alive and preventing me from being all I can be and experiencing all that I can be.  The more I move through the anger and "Delete, Uncreate and Destory" all that is standing in my way of discovering myself, the more I am discovering it.

#3 - Blessings And Joy Everywhere

As I let go and I reprogram my mind, I'm seeing that everything around me is such joy and possibility.  I'm seeing what can be, not what is lacking.  I am seeing that the more I keep my heart and mind focused on joy and possibility, the more I am attracting a different set of events into my life.  Of course, I don't advocate acting a different way than you see things, but through the Unlimited Abundance Program, I am learning to sync up what I see with what I feel and it is more obvious how many blessings are in my life.

#4 - Taking Action

I can sit there all day long and do nothing, but still expect the world to unfold before me.  News flash - this doesn't get you very far.  It is what too many people do and I was one of those.  Christie Marie Sheldon in the Unlimited Abundance program talks about how we have to take massive action.  It is not enough to just set your intentions or make the statements.  You have to do something.  You have to take the steps.  I've seen this firsthand since I quit my job in August, when I took the leap of faith into massive action and it brought me to where I am now.  The more I take action, the more I begin to see doors open.  Doors have opened that I could not have imagined a few months ago.

#5 - Inspirational Stories

One of the things I've enjoyed about the Unlimited Abundance Live program is all the inspiring stories.  Sometimes it is easy to think that life won't change and you're stuck in this life you can't escape.  Seeing and reading the stories of what is happening for others propels me to moments that I too can do this.  It keeps me going.  It gives me courage and hope that where I am at right now, is not forced upon me.  It is my choice and I can make different choices for the days ahead.

Conclusion

There are so many other ways that this Unlimited Abundance Program is helping me and I've tried to detail my journey into the Unlimited Abundance Live program as I go.  If you check out My Abundance Journey, you will see how far I have come.  You will see my progress as I continue to move forward.

I know many people have asked me, "Should I buy the Unlimited Abundance Program?"  I can't make that call for  you, but I know it has greatly helped me.  I see it helping many others.  You need to make the decision for yourself, but if you need proof of what it does, study what I have written.

At first, I thought I was a little off my rocker for spending the money that I did on the Unlimited Abundance Live program, but let me tell you - I'M SO GLAD I DID!  It is really helping me especially since I quit my job.  It is keeping me focused and moving forward into the world I am now creating for myself.  As I look back at when I signed up for it, I'm happy that I did not let the price of it stop me.  I would have missed out on so much healing and growth for my life.

I started out with the Home Study Course and now I am currently enrolled in the Unlimited Abundance Live training group.  The LIVE experience only happens every now and then, but let me tell you it is awesome!

Further Reading

1)  My Abundance Journey  (on Somatosync.com)
2)  Blog Post on August 3, 2015 - Unlimited Abundance Live Event
3)  Does Christie Marie Sheldon Unlimited Abundance Program Work  (Mar 2, 2012)

Listen To The Free Webinar

• (click the picture)

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Blog Post And Images (c) 12/5/15 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Raise Your Consciousness With Dr. Michael Beckwith

I remember not too long ago, I was attending a Qigong conference in Orlando put on by Jeff Primack.  In fact, I think it was the year before last that Dr. Michael Beckwith was the keynote speaker.  I could be off a year, but in any case, I was not able to stay for that day he was speaking.

Everyone around me seemed to know who he was.  Unfortunately, I did not.  They were all excited to hear him speak and I'm sorry that I missed that part of the conference.  However, things have a way of coming back around.

Mind Valley is just launching a Free Masterclass with Dr. Michael Beckwith on Tuesday December 22. Yes, I know, this is last minute notice but I didn't want you to miss out.

From the press release, he is one of the world's leading spiritual teachers and found of the Agape International Spiritual Center.

While I still don't know much about Dr. Michael Beckwith and this is not a review, here are some things Mind Valley says to expect on this Free Masterclass 60 minute event.

• Powerful Guided Meditation and affirmative prayer to finally accept and love yourself fully
• Discover how curve balls that life throw you are an opportunity towards a greater realization of your true self
• Understand the four stages of spiritual development
• Learn the eight life structures that define your human experience and how to improve each of them
• Become a more intuitive, compassionate version of yourself and be surrounded by an abundant, energetic field of love that nourishes your soul
• Learn how to go beyond creative visualization

This is a new program being offered by Mind Valley.  I am an affiliate with this organization, and also a participant in some of their programs.  I have used Christie Marie Sheldon's Unlimited Abundance and the Love Or Above program and find these very helpful.

It is a free event, so feel free to sign up and then I'd love to hear how this Master Class with Dr. Michael Beckwith gave you a moment of clarity or understanding you didn't have before (or whatever it is that you gained from this 60 minute event). 

I wish I could give you a review of this event and my own personal take on it, but since it is new, I have not seen it yet.  I do enjoy learning anything I can from these events and I love the quality of the program that Mind Valley puts out for all its products.

See you on the event!  Remember it takes place on Tuesday, December 22.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 12/20/15 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Unlimited Abundance Live Event with Christie Marie Sheldon

Its hard to imagine that it has been several years now since I was struggling so hard to make it in life.  Abundance was just one of those concepts that I heard in new age circles, but it was like a ghost for me in my own life - elusive!  I struggled hard to just make it through a day without having anxiety attacks every time I attempted to pay the bills.

Times were pretty rough.  I was trying to be something I wasn't ready for and I was fighting all the things that I didn't think fit into my life.  Life was one difficult moment after another and that's before we even talk about my finances.  I look back and I don't know how I made it through those days.  I honestly don't.

If you go back to some of my earlier blog posts, you can see just how much things have changed for me.  When I first saw the Unlimited Abundance Program with Christie Marie Sheldon come through, I was pretty skeptical.  I thought it was too much money and I didn't trust that it would really help me.  I've bought several self-help books and programs in the past and well, most of them didn't work.  So, yes, I was quite skeptical.

Learning About Unlimited Abundance

I know this subject is one that many struggle with and so did I.  In fact, right now, I'm going through one of those struggles and trying to determine what it is that I am not letting go of in this moment.  Maybe it isn't that easy, but every moment in life is often a time when we can learn more about our life.

Unlimited Abundance is one of those progressions I think.  I don't think you wake up tomorrow and everything is magically different in your life.  Maybe it can be and maybe I am selling the potential in life far too short.  It is my belief however that it is a progression.

Every time I talk about Unlimited Abundance, I always feel like I have to caution the statement with a disclaimer that abundance is more than money.  Too many people think it is money and in many ways, I believe it most likely a result of abundance.  Well, maybe not just cold hard cash money, but that when your life is in sync and you've cleared those energy blocks, the end result becomes the norm.

Unlimited Abundance - Two Years Later

If you're reading this, you may be just as skeptical as I was about this program.  In fact, if you go back and read some of my very first blog posts on Unlimited Abundance with Christie Marie Sheldon, I wasn't exactly nice about the program and my skepticism shined through brightly.

The one thing I've learned in life is that which I most fear and reject is often the thing I need to come to terms with and understand. While I feel a little "embarrassed" about what I once wrote back in 2011, I feel it is necessary to leave  the post up on this blog so you can see how I came through my own process in Unlimited Abundance.  I feel like it is better to lay all my cards on the table, then to scrub my words later.  I always want my blog to be authentic in every way possible.  What you see is what you get!

So anyway, as many may be wondering,

1. Is the Unlimited Abundance program with Christie Marie Sheldon worth it?  
2. Does it really work?  
3. Am I going to get wealthy or rich or be able to pay my bills?  
4. Is it going to change my life?

The questions could go on and on, but I can only share with you what it has done for me in the past two years from my own personal experience.  I can't prove or disprove some of what she talks about because it is not experiences I have had.  The only thing I will share in this blog post is my personal experiences and results.  What happens for you is all up to you and what you choose to do.  I cannot make any claims for you and neither can anyone else.

Unlimited Abundance Works

A year ago, I purchased a program that I so adamantly fought against when I first heard about it.  If you read my initial blog post review on this, you can see I wasn't too friendly to this company or this program.  I thought Unlimited Abundance was just another scam on the internet, but I actually proved myself wrong.  It became a program that helped me start to lose some of those long held beliefs I had about money and get rid of those abundance building blocks.  Believe me, I had plenty of these blocks in my life!

One of the things that I first had to get rid of was that somehow to make money meant that this was a bad thing - maybe almost an evil thing to do.  I realize I have been given a healing ability and I thought that this was something that I had to do while remaining full of humility through being poor.  Yet, over and over I have learned that this is a long held belief that is not grounded or rooted in anything but the fear based teaching of traumatic experiences in my life.  All of us have a role to play on this earth and if we do our part, we function together as a civilization.  Part of that role is offering what we have to give and in return, seeing our needs met and our lives provided for.  It is a two way equation and without the flow coming into our life, what we can give to others is limited.  Unlimited Abundance is not about only depleting ourselves in our giving, but accepting what is being given back to us.

I Love My Kindle Touch

While this may sound more like a product promotion than a post on mind body thoughts, I assure you there is a reason for me sharing this.  I have been wanting a Kindle Touch for a long time and I finally got one.  I'm so happy that I now have this (as if you can't tell).

One of the things that I love to do in life is read.  For me, reading opens up a vast new world that I can experience without traveling anywhere.  It gives me opportunities to explore concepts and places right from the comfort of my own home and in the time that works for me.

However, one of the issues I have is that when I read a book, I either have to store it on a bookcase when I am done, or donate it.  Of course, most of my books are marked up with notes in them so other people may not want to read them as a donated book.  Many of the books I read, I really enjoy but some of them I do not.  If I don't enjoy the book, then I have this physical item that I need to do something with.

This is where the Kindle Touch comes in for me and why I love it so much.  It allows me to purchase books at a cheaper price which means I can read more books!  In addition, it allows me to make notes, highlights, bookmarks or share sections of a book as I read it.  No longer do I need to dog-ear the corners of the pages and then try to go back and find the parts that I loved the most.  It makes this so simple to keep up with so I can reference back to in the future.

Let The Music Play

Out of my morning meditations came a stream of consciousness which stated that listening to some music as I worked during the day at my desk would help me stay focused and more relaxed. It sounded like an excellent idea but the speakers on my Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop are not that great and to hook up external speakers means that I have to plug another cable into the front of the laptop which I hate to do all the time.

Anyway, the only other way for me to listen to music was through my ipod. However, I hate the headphones/earplugs in my ears all day. It just doesn't work that well for me. I'm not a headphone/ear plug person for a long period of time. So I was in search of a new solution.

I had heard about and seen the JBL On Stage Micro speakers in action. They have some excellent sound and work well. However, I knew these very nice speakers were a lot more money than I wanted to spend. That was - until I found them on sale at Amazon. Reading some of the reviews, I was not sure how great the quality of this little speaker was but I'll have to say, I'm blown away by the quality and volume of this unit.

This little 6" diameter speaker allows you to plug into an electrical outlet or run it off of 4 AAA batteries. If it is plugged into the electrical outlet, it will charge your ipod. I've actually used it on my iphone 3gs as well and it works great with either one. There's a little remote that allows you to operate the speaker system and ipod functions without touching your ipod. The sound is excellent and I even turned the volume way up and it is still excellent. I could turn it up loud enough to hear it throughout much of my house. It is tiny and compact so when I travel, I can take it with me. I love having music play at night while I sleep and so this makes it easy to take with me to a hotel room. There are many more features of this that I won't go into detail here. This is my short little review of this speaker and you can click on the link below to read more about it on Amazon.

So why am I mentioning this up here on a Mind Body Thoughts blog? Well, part of it is that I wanted a way to play my relaxing music during the day as well as at night when I travel on business. It helps me focus and sleep better. Otherwise, my mind can run a million different creative directions in an hour and night time sounds can distract my sleep. It is small enough to travel with. I can keep it close by on my desk at a low volume to not bug others working around me.

More importantly, when I do workshops or bodywork sessions, instead of lugging around a big boom box with CD's, I can just take my compact speaker and ipod and away I go. It is one less thing to carry with me and pack. It is so compact, it takes very little space.

I know there are cheaper speakers out there and ones that are much more expensive but this cost $59.95 (regular price on Amazon was $99.95) and I know I've seen them for much more than that. The one thing I noticed was that you could get this in different colors but they were much more expensive. Mine is a black color and that's fine for me.

So now, my only problem comes in buying more relaxing music for my ipod! Anyway, I try not to make this into a commercial blog but every now and then I run across something that is too good to not share on here. My emphasis is not on the commercial side but on writing information and experience based blog entries. So, don't worry, I won't be doing this very often.

But go and check out these speakers and let me know what you think of them!

JBL On Stage Micro Portable Speaker Dock for Ipod (Black)

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