Choosing Your Character �" Step 1
Does your character just happen? Or is it purposeful? Do you have any control over it? Or is it innate, already inside you? Think about the people of high character you admire�"did they purposefully build their character? Our life experience tells us that character is purposefully built. Each of us arrives on this earth with individual attributes and endowments. Yet the formulation and creation of our true character is really up to us. We make the choice, and with perseverance we become the choice. We become the choices that we make! This book contains suggestions on how to build your personal character. It outlines some straightforward practical steps you can take to improve in this area. We will share with you a few characteristics that will help to gather the best characteristics, but this book is not about what characteristics you must have. The choice must be yours. You must choose your own characteristics. By this stage in life you already have generated a character with different dimensions. You might say you already are a character. But you can make it even better! There is always room to improve. Wherever you are right now, you can make it even better! There are nine simple steps you can take to build your character and take your life to the next level. Here is the first: Meditate and Evaluate Reflect upon your life. Take an inventory of who you are and who you have become. Think about how other people respond to you. Consider what you do that causes them to respond to you that way. Are you comfortable with the quality of those interactions? Do you want to improve? If so, what is missing that you need to add, or what do you need to change? Write down your thoughts. Get the thoughts outside you so you can look at them and evaluate them. Think about who you have become. Make a list of the positive qualities and characteristics you have. Make a list of the qualities you would like to get rid of, change, or improve. What’s great? What needs to improve? You may even consider having a dialog with other people who know you well. Solicit their suggestions for improvement. Think about what they say. Add their feedback to your list of desired attributes and characteristics. Imagine the self you would like to become. Vividly see it in your mind. Think about the qualities you will need to have in order to become that person. Write them down. Write down the qualities of the person you want to become.
Mark Victor Hansen, best known as the co-creator of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ empire (which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling non-fiction book series ever), is a walking success magnet! Between his books and speeches, Mark has helped countless millions of people become their very best. Visit Mark’s 101 E-Book Library at http://www.IdeasThatCanChangeYourLife.com.
10 ways to cut your electric bill
One of the major concerns in the world today is depletion of energy. As concerned citizens all of us must make a concerted effort to be conscious citizens and save electricity. Electricity has become integral to life but imagine having to live without power. Conservation of electricity benefits you personally as you will pay lower bills. Consider: 1. Doing an energy audit. This will tell you how and when you use energy and where the wastage lies. You will be able to make an “energy savings plan” by pinpointing exactly how you can cut back on energy consumption. Some ideas may be as simple as don’t leave the coffee machine on at all times. 2. Think about resetting the thermostat ten degrees lower during the night. If you can do this for say approximately eight hours a day you will save 10% on electricity without sacrificing comfort. Insulate the home in winter by drawing shut the drapes. 3. Check all insulation in the house. If you increase attic insulation to around 12 inches the electricity consumption will reduce by 20 percent. 4. Plant more trees around the house these will cool the house in summer and insulate the house in winter. Studies show that a green cover benefits in many ways. 5. Have all electricity wires and outlets checked for leakage. Check all fuses and appliances. 6. Fluorescent light bulbs are energy efficient. They use 75% less energy than ordinary light bulbs. These have a longer life and contribute to great savings. 7. Use energy efficient appliances. These use less energy and believe it or not a high efficiency refrigerator uses less electricity than a light bulb. 8. When you are away even for a few hours or days you should turn off and unplug all electrical appliances and turn settings on the thermostat, water heater, and refrigerator to the lowest setting. 9. Ensure that you use a water-saving shower head. Water heating costs for a family can be lowered by at least US$ 250 a year. 10. Weatherize your home. This helps reduce heating bills by 20% and cooling by at least 10 percent. Even when building a home or decorating it use weather friendly materials�"those that are not good conductors of heat and cold. Install windows and glass panes in the roof in such away that you use sunlight to light up the rooms during day light hours. Make an effort to switch off lights and fans when leaving a room. Ensure that the filters in air conditioners and heaters are always cleaned and free of clog and dust. If you live an energy efficient lifestyle you will see the numbers on the energy bill actually reducing. The power to cut energy costs is well within your control. It is as simple as only washing full loads and that to in cold water. Use the hot wash option only for very dirty clothes. Cook food only just before you are ready to eat that way you can save reheating costs as well as refrigerating costs of storing the food. Turn the thermostat of the refrigerator to minimum in cold or cool weather. Switch off freezers if they are not in use. Small contributions can all add up to significant amounts of power saved. And, power saved means money in the bank.
Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1888Discuss.com/home-improvement/, the premier REVENUE SHARING discussion forum for Home Improvement including topics on exterior home improvement, gardening, decorating, buying and selling, electrical home improvement and more. He also freelances for the premier Mortgage site http://www.1888Mortgages.com
A Nickel in the Road
A Nickel in the Road by Donna Doyon
Exercising is not one of my favorite pastimes but I know it's good for me. So every day I try to get outside and take a 2-mile walk. Most days I carry a small notebook and pen with me so that I can jot down the random brilliant thoughts that come to me as I stroll around the neighborhood.
A few weeks ago I was rounding a corner about half way through my walk and noticed a nickel in the road. I adjusted my gait so that I stepped on the shiny coin and kept walking.
Within a few steps I started thinking of my daughter who always stops to pick up loose change. She wouldn't have passed this one by. I was half tempted to turn around and go back for it, but I thought it would be embarrassing if someone happened to see me stooping down to pick up a nickel.
It didn't take long for me to transition my thoughts from that nickel to those small opportunities that have been in front of me that I've stepped on or passed by. How many have I overlooked because I thought they were insignificant? How many have I been too embarrassed to attempt? How many have I stepped on because I wanted to show the world they were unworthy of my attention?
Later that day I told my daughter about the nickel incident because it was continued to weigh on my mind. She didn't say, "Don't worry about it. It was only a nickel." She did say, "I would have picked it up. Did you know that one day at school I found over a dollar in change on the floor?"
She had taken advantage of seemingly small opportunities. But when added up, they became something worthwhile. In my daughter's case, she was able to buy a can of soda from the vending machine at school--something she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.
The next morning I paid attention as I walked that same stretch of road. I was determined to pick up that nickel if I saw it again. But alas, it was gone. Not surprising I guess. Someone else is usually willing to take advantage of the opportunities that others choose to pass by. Unfortunately by the time I decided to take advantage of it, the opportunity was no longer there.
Of course not every opportunity is one that I want to stop and pick up. Some merely resemble something that would help me achieve my goals in life, the way that bottle caps, from a distance, look a lot like coins. But some we recognize immediately as worthwhile yet we still choose to walk by them.
Since the day I walked past that nickel in the road, I've been more attuned to opportunities that surround me. I've been paying attention to my response to them. Instead of quickly discounting the ones that appear to be small payoffs, I'm looking at the bigger picture. What can a small opportunity add to what I already have going on? How can a small opportunity serve as the beginning of something bigger?
What a great life lesson! And it only cost me a nickel.
Copyright 2005. Donna Doyon, Activities Coordinator for Your Virtual Retreat is the author of GLOW: Renew Your Spirit & Release Your Inner Beauty. She offers information, inspiration and encouragement to people who want to say goodbye to self defeating attitudes and behaviors and hello to greater success, healthier relationships and more joyful living. Get inspired at her website: http://www.donnadoyon.com.
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