A Father’s Day Poem to Share

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle’s flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

When there was nothing more to add,

He knew His masterpiece was complete,

And so,

He called it … Dad.

I am grateful to the unknown author of this poem for sharing these special words. Although my father has passed on, this poem gives form to the memories I carry in my heart. Hope you’ll pass it on and share it with a special dad in your life.

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The Secrets Behind the Power of Intention

The power of intention has the ability to transform your life for the better. Without it, you may feel like you lack direction and get bored easily, all the while living an unfulfilled existence.

When you set an intention, it gives you a purpose. Think about how driven and fulfilled you’ve felt in the past when you’ve had a purpose. Alternatively, think about a day in your life where you needed to accomplish something but you lacked purpose. There is likely a remarkable difference between what you achieved and how you felt about your achievement!

You can set an intention for anything in life. You can get out of bed and be abstract and say that you “intend” to have a great day. You can also be specific and list out the things that you intend to accomplish.

For example, if you practice yoga in the afternoon, set an intention for your practice. Say that with every breath you exhale, you are releasing negative energy, while you inhale positivity. In the end, you’re not only relaxed, but also rejuvenated.

What Are The Secrets?

There are ways that you can bring out your intentions to make your planning easier and your quest for your goals more fruitful.

Try the following activities:

1. Take your dreams seriously. Don’t allow yourself to push your dreams away. They’re not meant to remain fantasies forever; you need to bring them into reality! When you take your dreams seriously, they turn into plans and intentions. When you intend to do something, it becomes real and brings your dreams to life.

2. Gain clarity. Do whatever is within your power to clarify your dreams and intentions. You can do this by simply brainstorming and sorting out your thoughts.

* Keep a journal and get into the habit of writing everything down. Writing down your intentions is psychologically powerful.

* Post your ultimate dream or intention somewhere where you’ll see it every day.

3. Declare your intentions. Make your intentions known to the world so you’ll be held accountable for them. You might think that keeping them inside is better because then no one will know if you fail, but in that scenario, you’ve given up and failed yourself.


* Tell your friends and family of your goals and keep them up to date on your progress.

* Alternatively, keep an online blog for sharing your intentions.

4. Take action every day. Whether your intentions are large or small, do something every day that’s a step forward toward your intentions. Even if your step for the day is a very small one, it’s a positive progress that’ll add up to something big over time.

5. Keep building new intentions. Once you achieve a goal, set new ones and set them often. The more you build intentions around the things you do, the more productive you’ll become and the more things will seem to go your way.

* Remember that every intention doesn’t have to be about hard work. You can keep your brain active while you engage in rest activities as well. For instance, when you intend to have a good time relaxing, you likely will.

Learning how to use the power of intention is exhilarating! It frees you to be the best you can be and brings you a life worth living well. Enjoy it with all the gusto you’ve got!

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6 Ways to Bring Balance and Harmony into Your Life

Cultivating balance and harmony among all the aspects of your life can bring you true happiness. It can be difficult at times to keep everything in order, but when you do, the harmony you create makes an amazing difference.

The trick is to spread your focus fairly equally among the different areas of your life. This just means that, while your work life might be stressful, you can’t ignore your relationships, spirituality, or other things that are also important to you.

The situation can be likened to beautiful music performed by a skilled orchestra. Every instrument performs in perfect harmony with the others. Sometimes one instrument will come forward into the spotlight, while the other instruments pause or continue playing quietly, fulfilling their part of the total beauty.

Try the following techniques to bring the beauty of balance and harmony to your life:

1. Avoid total focus on only one issue. If you spend all of your energy on one aspect of your life, the others fall by the wayside. If you must spend a great deal of time on one area temporarily, make an extra effort to include other important things as much as possible.

* For example, if you must stay late at work, call home to talk with your spouse on one of your breaks. After work, use your free time wisely to concentrate on other areas of your life.

2. Reflect on your goals and dreams. Take time to consider your goals and dreams. Come up with a plan to follow through and start taking action toward them. Even if you feel that you aren’t in the position to take great action, some action is better than nothing.

3. Eliminate stress. Stress arises in your life as a sign that things aren’t in balance. It’s a natural indicator that tells you it’s time to take action. If you ignore it, the situation only gets worse.

* When you determine the root cause of the stress and reduce it as much as possible, you’ll find that things naturally tend to move back towards harmony.

4. Get proper rest. An important part of finding balance and harmony is getting enough sleep. If you feel the need to continually squeeze in one more thing and deprive yourself of sleep because of it, set a bedtime and follow it religiously.

5. Explore spirituality. Another way to find balance and harmony is to explore your spiritual side. Many religions specifically address the issue of finding balance in your life.

6. Take up yoga. Yoga is a practice that goes beyond some simple stretches in order to keep fit. It’s an ancient art that addresses your mind, body and spirit. It’s a great way to get your whole day into balance, and you’ll no doubt leave your yoga session refreshed and relaxed.

When your life is in harmony, everything seems to be easier. You’re less stressed, more energized, and you have the time to enjoy the things that are most important to you. Take action to bring this balance into your life and enjoy all it has to offer you.

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The 50 Plus Manifesto

man·i·fes·to, n. ma-nə-ˈfes-(ˌ)tō:

A written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives or views of its issuer.

I’m a Baby Boomer woman over 50 and this is my manifesto. It’s a declaration of how I’m living the second half of my life. The way I look at it – this is no longer a dress rehearsal. It’s the main act! So I want a solid plan that keeps me focused on an AMAZING life after 50 and gets me past the inevitable midlife crisis symptoms. To be honest though, like many 50 plus women and men, I’m making it up as I go along. And I don’t have to tell you that’s not always easy!

Think of the 50 Plus Manifesto as your compass for the second half of life that keeps you on track to answering the three big questions in our lives these days:

• Where am I now?
• Where do I want to be?
• And how am I going to get there?

If you’re struggling to answer these questions, then the 12 guiding principles of the 50 Plus Manifesto may very well help you make the rest of your life the best of your life:

1. I make time to know myself and be myself.

2. I dump my baggage and travel light.

3. I dream big and take action.

4. I embrace and use my imagination and creativity.

5. I do what I love – and if I’m not sure what that is yet, I let my passions and strengths lead me in the right direction.

6. I live life on my own terms.

7. I care for my body, mind and spirit; letting good flow in and the bad flow out.

8. I reach out to connect with friends – old and new.

9. I trust and value my intuition and gut reactions.

10. I make a positive difference in the lives of others.

11. I am grateful for each day.

12. I enjoy MY life.

What would you add?

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How to Motivate Yourself Quickly and Easily

Getting the motivation to do something whether it’s a trip to the kitchen or to pursue your dream career  seems easy enough, but few can sustain the motivation to follow-through consistently.

There’s always too much to do. The task is too big. Tomorrow’s a better day to get started. Right? There are a million reasons we don’t act, but almost always the consequences of our inaction are guilt and regret.

You’ll be glad to discover that you can stop that vicious cycle of inaction and regret and become the self-motivated person you always wanted to be!

Here are some excellent tips on how to motivate yourself, even when you’ve hit a setback, are in a slump, or haven’t even begun to figure out what you want from life:

1. Focus. Focus on just one goal at a time. Even if you’re working toward improving several areas of your life, focus on each goal separately. This helps to keep you from feeling overwhelmed and prevents you from giving up before you get started. Flush out everything else from your mind, and keep your energies focused on the one goal.

* Develop a tunnel vision focus to tune out unimportant tasks and distractions.

2. Envision results. Remembering why you’re inspired in the first place will refresh your motivation towards attaining your goal.

* Think of how your life will be changed and improved once you achieve this goal.

3. Start small. Determine the tasks necessary to reach your goal. Now divide these tasks into a series of smaller tasks. Continue this process until you’ve obtained tasks that you know you can accomplish. It’s like bite-size chunks. When the chunks are small enough, you know you won’t be biting off more than you can chew at one time!

* Attaining many small goals on your way to the big goal keeps you happy and motivated with constant successes.

4. Network. Talk to friends, coworkers, and experts in the area you seek to master. Get them to share tips, advice and experiences they’ve had that can help you to reach your goal. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same goals or have already attained them will inspire you to act.

5. Tell people about your goals. By telling people about your goal, you are making a pact that you will follow-through. Tell your friends, family and coworkers to energize your motivation.

6. Dedicate daily time. Dedicate a certain amount of time each day specifically to furthering this goal. Investing time in attaining your goal every day will keep it in your mind as positive action.

* Positive action propels success and diminishes doubts and regret.

7. Research. Research industry or topic books, blogs and forums. Anything you do to make yourself more knowledgeable about your goal can inspire you to act.

8. Reward yourself. When you accomplish a step or a positive outcome in your goal plan, reward yourself with a nice dinner or something that will make you feel special.

9. Learn from your mistakes. First, recognize that you will make mistakes and accept this. Second, take the opportunity to learn what to do (or not to do) the next time.

* Analyzing how to fix the error will push you forward with greater confidence.

10. Replace negativity with positive thoughts and actions. We all encounter those negative thoughts that tell us to give up, but knowing how to counteract them will keep you on track toward your goal. Your mindset and attitude determine the positive or negative outcome of any situation. Keep those positive thoughts and actions coming and success will surely follow.

* Negativity is not reality unless you make it so.

Self-motivation begins with the end in mind, and the only person who can get you there is you! By using this combination of tips and techniques, you can motivate yourself to take action toward your goals. You’ll be proud of yourself for doing something positive to make your life better. Plus, you’ll develop a mindset that will serve you well into the future for achieving more and more of what you want out of life!

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