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By Sunny Sambhara The comparative study of religions has never been merely an academic concern for Mahatma Gandhi, the great Hindu spiritualist and leader. Since the days of his youth he has been existentially in the search of such studies as has been evident from his famous book “The story of my experiments with truth.” India is a country where people are predominantly religious. Religion and spirituality are firmly rooted in the minds of the Indian people. Some countries are well known for their political institutions, others for their economic prosperity while some others for their social advancement. India is well known for her philosophy and religion. According to Max Muller the study of religion is incomplete unless it is studied with reference to India. To quote him, “Take religion and where can you study its true origin, its natural growth, and its inevitable decay better than in India, the home of Brahmanism, the birth place of Buddhism and the refuge of zoroastrianism even now the matter of new superstitions - and why not, in the future the regenerate child of the purest faith, if only purified from the dust of nineteen centuries?” (1) . To others, Religion is one condition among so many other countries, but to the Indian people it is one great sustaining force, pertaining to all the spheres of their lives. Mahatma Gandhi who was born and brought up in India could not escape this strong influence of religion in all his activities. In ancient times it was a common belief that religion is a matter of individual experience. But modern psychology has shown that there is no such thing as a merely individual experience, which is absolutely cut off from the society. There is an important element of truth in the views of Durkheim and other members of the French Sociological school, who maintain that religion, is essentially a social phenomenon. The views of Jesus: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” did not find much favour in Gandhi. Rather his view was more in accordance with the writings of H.G. Wells, according to whom “the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven as Jesus preached it, it was no less than a bold and uncompromising demand for a complete change and cleansing of the life of our struggling races an utter cleansing without and within.” (2) . Gandhi’s religion was spiritual humanism because he declared that the service of the poor whom he called “Daridranarayana” is a true service of God. In other words, Gandhi found God amidst his creation; this creation is confined not only to India, his own land and not Hinduism alone, the religion to which he belonged. It consisted of men belonging to different land and different religions. Therefore the study of comparative religion was important to Gandhi. The best principle of different religions, he felt, should be assimilated for the advancement of our society. In India the word ‘Dharma’ is used to mean ‘religion’. But it should be noted, that the word ‘Dharma’ in Hinduism has a much wider connotation that what we ordinarily mean by the word religion. The word ‘Dharma’ comes from the root ‘Dhre’ which means to ’sustain’. ‘Dharma’ is thus the greatest sustaining force or the binding force of the society. The goal of ‘Dharma’ is to create mental and spiritual fellowship among all men and to regulate its relation with all living entities. It thus tries to keep the world in perfect equilibrium. It is thus clear that the word ‘Dharma’ was not used in connection with any particular religion. Any religion, any custom, any creed could be brought under its fold and was thus out out secular. Gandhi’s concept of religion, therefore, brought under its fold people belonging to different religions. The broad outlook of Mahatma Gandhi, the progressive interpretations of the various ideas and concepts in the domain of religion, made it possible to facilitate the study of comparative religion. Gandhi refers to ‘God’ as ‘Truth’ and this has very important bearings. The word ‘Truth’ has a much wider connotation than the term ‘God’. There may be non-believers in God. But no one can deny ‘truth’ for even the atheist must accept the power of ‘Truth’. Gandhi’s description about ‘God’, again, points out that it is something, which can be accepted by all men in the way he likes. The following statement of Gandhi regarding God would make it clear. “To me God is Truth and Love. God is Ethics and Morality. God is Fearlessness. God is essence of life and light and yet He is above and beyond all these. God is conscience. He is even the atheism of the atheist. For in his boundlessness, God permits the atheist to live. He is the searcher of hearts. He is a personal God to those who need his personal presence. He is embodied to those who need his touch. He is the purest essence…. He is all things to all men. He is in us and yet above and beyond us.” (3) Mahatma Gandhi’s mission was not only to humanise religion but also to moralise it. He would reject any religious doctrine, which was in conflict with morality. According to Gandhi religion and morality are inseparably bound up with each other. To Gandhi, “There is no religion higher than truth and Righteouness.” Morality is prized by almost all the great religions of the world. The emphasis on morality, by Gandhi helped his ideas to acquire a universalistic outlook. Gandhi’s religion was a federation of different religious creeds, theological schools and sectarian faiths that have survived in India from ancient times. People belonging to different religions would go to him for his advice and blessings on different matters. All through his life Gandhi devoted much time and energy for the promotion of Hindu Muslim unity and also fasted for his cause on many occasions. In the wake of the partition of the country, hundreds and thousands of Hindus and Muslims were killed in Punjab, Bengal and Bihar. Gandhi threw himself into a struggle to heal the breach between the two communities. Gandhi wanted communal harmony and peace not only between the Hindus and the Muslims but between all sections of the people who believe India to be their home, no matter to what faith they may belong. Gandhi had the good fortune to have as his colleague’s people belonging to different religions. Two important examples are those C.F. Andrews and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Ashram prayers of Gandhi had passages from holy books like the Gita, the Bible and the Koran. This tradition still continues in India in most of the public meetings and prayers. Gandhi also maintained that a reverential study of the different religious tradition is necessary. He felt that it is the duty of every cultured man and woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. To respect other religion, a study of their scriptures, is a sacred duty according to Gandhi. To understand the point of view of another faith requires tolerance, sympathy, broad mindedness, humility and willingness to recognize Truth wherever it is to be found. If we posses these qualities we can appreciate other’s faith, traditions, customs, culture and way of life. The prophets and seers of different religions have brought to mankind the consciousness of the unity underlying the whole universe and a deep sense of brotherhood of man. Gandhi therefore felt a need of the comparative study of religions to pave the way for unity and brotherhood amongst the followers of different religions. Mahatma Gandhi was a Sanatani Hindu. His love for Hinduism was not blind love. Gandhi spoke about the lofty ideals preached by Hinduism. Hinduism, according to him is the most tolerant and liberal religion. He was deeply impressed by the ethical and spiritual outlook of Hinduism. Gandhi said, “The chief value of Hinduism lies in holding the actual belief that all life is one i.e. all life coming from one universal source, call it Allah, God or Parameshwara.” (4) Gandhi was also very much impressed by the teachings of the Gita saying, “when one sees Me everywhere and everything in Me, I am never lost to him and he is never lost to Me.” (5) But Gandhi at the same time was very radical in his approach and he did not hesitate in criticizing those aspects of Hinduism which did not appeal to his reason. For example he was very much against the caste system that was prevalent in Hinduism. To quote Gandhi, “My religion is Hinduism … I can no more describe my feelings for Hinduism than for my wife … Even so I feel about Hinduism with all its fault and limitations … I know that the vice that is going on today in all the Hindu shrines … My zeal never takes me to the rejection of any of the essential things in Hinduism.” (6) Hinduism according to Gandhi, did not have one central book for reference, no particular God of worship nor one particular way of God realization. Whether he is a theist or an atheist, he is a Hindu. Whether he believes in one absolute or many Gods, he is a Hindu. Whether he believes in Vedas or not, he remains a Hindu. Gandhi was therefore liberal enough to take idol worship as a part of human nature, though he did not believe in idol worship as such. Gandhi, was, however, deadly against untouchability, the greatest plague of the Hindu society according to Gandhi, which is the duty of every true Hindu or combat. Gandhi was also against animal sacrifice though prescribed in the Vedas as it went against his concept of non-violence. Instead he advocated the sacrifice of animality in us in the form of lust, greed, anger, hatred, ill-will etc. Referring to Rama and Krishna, the most popular Gods of Hinduism, Gandhi said, “My Krishna is not the historical Krishna. I believe in the Krishna of my imagination as a perfect incarnation, spotless in every sense of the word, the inspirer of the Gita, and the inspirer of the lives of millions of human beings. But if it is proved to me … that the Krishna of the Mahabharata actually did some of the acts attributed to Him, even at the risk of being banished from the Hindu fold, I should not hesitate to reject that Krishna as God incarnate.” (7) Though deeply religious by nature, Gandhi did not believe in rituals, customs, traditions, dogmas and other formalities observed for the sake of religion. Like Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhi’s religion was not confined to Temples, Churches, books, rituals and other outer forms. Thus Gandhi’s concept of religion was not bound by any formalities. His God may be a personal God to those who needs his personal presence. He may be a law to those who concentrate their minds on the orderliness of the universe. He may be an embodied being to those who need his touch. According to Gandhi God may have a thousand names as Ishwara, Siva, Vishnu, Rama, Krsna, Jehovah, Christ, Allah etc. according to the traditions in which a man is brought up. In the words of Gandhi, “Is there one God for the Mussalmans and another for the Hindus, Parsis, and Christians? No, there is only one omnipresent God. He is named variously, and we remember him by the name which is most familiar to us.” Gandhi also advocated his views on Islam, another great world religion. Islam is a religion of strict monotheism and rigorous ethical discipline. Gandhi had a very high esteem for this religion and regarded it as a religion of peace, love, kindness and brotherhood of all men. It may be true that sometimes the followers of Islam often took to sword for the spread of their religion, but this was not in accordance with the teachings of Koran. As Gandhi himself said in this connection, “I do regard Islam to be a religion of peace in the same sense as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are.” (9) The charges of fanaticism against Islam cannot be justified, according to Gandhi as there are several passages in the Koran which speak of religious toleration. Of course, there is a place for Jihad in Islam and this Jihad is generally interpreted as aholy war against those who are not the followers of Islam. But Gandhi justifies the true meaning of Jihad by saying that the conditions laid down for the Jihad are so strict that they are not capable of being fulfilled by everybody. To quote Gandhi, “where is the unerring general to order Jihad? Where is the suffering and love and purification that much precede the very idea of drawing the sword? We are too imperfect and impure and selfish to resort to an armed conflict in the name of God.” (10) Gandhi was also impressed by the personal and social codes of behavior that Islam prescribes. In the Koran there are rules and regulations for virtues like obedience to parents, avoidance of adultery, cheating and lying, refraining from theft, murder etc. The five pillars of Islam, which prescribes prayer, fasting, alms giving and hospitality are the duties that every Muslim has to perform. All these aspects of Islam influenced Gandhi, a great deal. Amongst religions, other than Hinduism, no other religion inspired, impressed and influenced Gandhi as Christianity. In the concept of Satyagraha, Gandhi was deeply influenced by the teachings of Jesus particularly the sacrifice Jesus had to undergo during crucification for a noble cause. The teachings of the New Testament specially the Sermon: “You have heard that it hath been said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you not to resist evil; but if one strikes thee on thy right cheek, turn to him thy other also” impressed Gandhi very much. Satyagraha, in the hands of Gandhi had been a weapon of conquering evil by good. Gandhi said that he had the same liking for the Sermon as he had for the Gita. To use Gandhi’s words, “Today supposing I was deprived of the Gita and forgot all its contents but had a copy of the Sermon, I would deprive the same joy from it as I do from the Gita.” “Gandhi loved Christianity because of its absolute emphasis on love as the most ethical virtue. But Gandhi disliked the claims of Christianity as superior over all other religions of the world. But though Gandhi had a deep respect for the different religions he was against proselytisation. He was against certain forms of missionary activities specially those relating to conversion. Gandhi was not opposed to conversion if it was based on one’s will but he was against any use of force or propaganda in the matter of conversion.” As he remarked, “A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance. The fragrance is its own sermon. The fragrance of religion and spiritual life is much finer and much subtler than that of a rose.” (12) From the comparative study of religions, Gandhi was convinced that a mere doctrinaire approach in the field of religion does not help to create inter religious fellowship. Dogmatic religions do not help to promote creative dialogue. The religions dogmas directly or indirectly breed an attitude of dislike towards other religions. Such an attitude does not help to provide any meeting grounds for religions. Gandhi realized that true religion vitalizes and elevates the inner life of human beings. The progress of any religion depends on how effectively one has been able to realise the inner spirituality and convictions in his day to day life. The rituals, the symbols, the churches, the temples or the mosques are aids so long as they help to nourish and fertilize the inner spiritual life of their followers. In their true aspects all religions call for peace and brotherhood amongst man. The great religions of the world should strive, according to Gandhi, in promoting a life of self control, sacrifice, harmony, peace and understanding amongst its followers so as to create a heaven on earth. We may conclude here, in the words of Swami Vivekananda, one of the greatest champion of peace and understanding of religions, which Gandhi also supported : “If any one hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one religion and the destruction of the others, to him I say, ‘Brother, yours is an impossible hope.’ Do I wish that a Christian would become a Hindu ? God forbid. Do I wish that a Hindu or Buddhist would become a Christian ? God forbid … The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.”(13) The world does not need a new religion. What it does need are the people who, discovering the eternal and universal truths in their own religion are bold enough to live in accordance with those truths. When it is done, the dry outer forms of religions, which divide the entire human race into several groups, will crumble before the radiance and power of the mighty human spirit. The power of the human soul, knows no bounds, no limits and if religion is its vehicle then that vehicle will surely participate in transforming the human society on its journey towards the Divine Being. Gandhi has been killed. Physically he is no more with us. But his spirit lives amidst us and within us, with all its glory than ever before. http://www.lonelycanuck.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sunny_Sambhara http://EzineArticles.com/?Gandhi-and-Comparative-Religions&id=107705 online pharmacy 2b ambien 2b saturday delivery prescription drugs ambien buy generic zolpidem 24 hr delivery stilnox et zolpidem

By Andrew Gee The following article is one of a series of articles which focus on Self Improvement, Motivation and Empowerment. It is based on research done over twenty years as a personal and business coach. This self improvement article was written in response to questions which have been asked on losing weight and long term weight loss as well as address common challenges that people have with this subject. I sincerely hope that you find the following information of value. 6 Tips On Losing Weight Safely People who want to lose weight commonly, and first of all, think about reducing the amount of food they eat. This may be quite a solution but not exactly the best there is. In fact, depending on the amount you reduce in your food intake, it may even be dangerous to one’s health. So how does one lose weight effectively and safely? Here are some points one should consider when trying to lose weight: Beware of the Crash Diets Most people think that trimming down the calories can alone shed off their unwanted excess. Probably this is because of the fad there is in advertising about low-calorie food products and beverages. What people don’t know is that this could be dangerous because when they decrease their calorie intake way to below the required levels, the body begins to digest the fats. Sounds good but it doesn’t actually. Burning fat requires a lot of energy. Since there is not much energy in the body to facilitate metabolism of fat, it will run at a very slow pace resulting to fatigue, illness and weak immune system. Low-calorie diet is also compensated for by the body by burning muscle. People on this type of diet who revert back to their old eating habits end up gaining back some, if not all the weight they have shed off. This would consist mainly of fats. And since fats have more volume per mass than muscle, they end up having the same weight as before but more bulkier. In losing weight, one should keep in mind that they should lose excess body fats only. However, one can try out eating small meals at more frequent intervals. This way the body will not think that it is being starved and will not store food as fat. Eat Properly One may have considered junking the crash diet option but he should also not forget to watch what he is eating. Variety must always be considered so that one may be able to get the necessary nutrients from his diet.It is also healthier to eat food which are roasted, steamed or broiled rather than fried. It is also important to include a lot of fiber in the diet. Frequent rehydration is also necessary. Pump Up lean Muscle Mass Muscles burn calories when they work; they even do so at rest. Unlike fats which just lie around, bulge around the pants and dangle beneath the sleeves, muscles burn calories all-day round. With this fact, one can start weight loss by increasing muscle mass. The more muscles, the less fat will be left. This is attainable starting with working out with resistance exercises. ========SIDEBAR======== When it comes to the subject of self improvement, I fully understand (through my own experiences) that it is a lot easier said than done. However, you are here, right now, because you have a desire to improve your self or you are at least interested in this subject. Perhaps you are reading this to help a friend or colleague - great. If this article helps you or you help a friend, paying it forward is what lif’e all about so we all win. ======END SIDEBAR====== Engaging in Aerobics Aerobics are not only good for the heart by increasing cardio-vascular endurance. Aerobics also help in increasing lean muscle mass while simultaneously decreasing excess body fat. Aside from these, aerobics make the metebolic process more efficient and its rate high, even after a long while. Imagine burning fat efficiently while driving along the freeway or even while watching television. Extra “Push” Some people believe that smoking and caffeine can actually help in losing weight. This can perhaps be true; however, they do the body more harm than good because of their side-effects. For that extra “push”, one can try out taking food supplements. Afterall, 95% of these products out in the market actually does good. On Taking Diet Pills Over-the-counter diet pills affect the amount of weight one loses as well as how long one keeps that amount of weight off. However, one must be wary of the side-effects of these diet pills. As such, one must faithfully follow the instructions provided for in the packaging. It is also prudent to consult the physician anyway before trying out these drugs and also to find out which type would be best for the individual. Losing weight does not have to mean sacrifice and suffering. It actually means opening up to a more full and healthy life where one may not have to feel bad about himself having to look the way he does or not being able to do what he wants to do. Losing weight might entail a little adjustments plus the discomforts, but as the old saying goes, “no pain, no gain.” Besides fat, what has one got to lose anyway? NOW is the time! O.K. you have read the article. Now is the time for action. Without action, this article adds no value whatsoever to your self improvement. But remember, without action, you cannot blame this self improvement article or any article for that matter. So, take action NOW. Even if only one piece of advice, one piece of information, one tip makes a difference, then the whole article has been worth it for all of us. NOW is the time! Be the person you want to be, you deserve it! 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By Ross Bainbridge For people who are dating, choosing a gift for their significant other can be a bit of a challenge. This is because getting a gift for a boyfriend or a girlfriend involves striking a balance between finding the perfect gift that represents your true feelings and making sure that you do not appear overly intimate or overbearing. This is very important because as you get to know each other better, the kind of gift you give on special occasions can say a lot about you. With this in mind, you may need to consider some of the “safer” choices with regard to gifts, allowing you to express your feelings without making it look like you are trying too hard or have something else in mind. To help you do so, below are some gift ideas that have been tried and tested over the years. For Those Who are Just Starting Out If you have just gotten together with your girlfriend or your boyfriend and an anniversary is coming up, like the anniversary of your first kiss, there are some gift options that would be appropriate to the kind of relationship you have. One of the best gift ideas is a book of your partner’s favorite author. This can be a good way of saying that you are aware of his or her interests. Other very good gift ideas include CDs of your partner’s favorite artist or DVDs of your partner’s favorite movie. In addition to these, buying concert tickets and sporting tickets to your partner’s favorite artist or sporting event are some other good options. These gift ideas allow you to show that you really listen to what your partner says and that you care enough to buy them things that you know they will enjoy. However, the fact that you are only dating does not mean that you have to wait until you get married to give more intimate gifts. This is because, as the relationship grows and you become more intimate, you can consider giving your boyfriend or your girlfriend more intimate gifts. Some of these include lingerie or vacations to romantic getaways like the Bahamas. In buying gifts for the person you are dating, there are a number of things you should consider apart from what you think your partner would like. This is because the gift you pick should also be appropriate to the intimacy level of your relationship. However, considering some “tried and tested” gift ideas can be a very good idea because most of them can accurately express your feelings for your partner. Anniversary Gifts provides detailed information on Anniversary Gifts, Wedding Anniversary Gifts, First Wedding Anniversary Gifts, 25Th Wedding Anniversary Gifts and more. Anniversary Gifts is affiliated with Unusual Romantic Gifts. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ross_Bainbridge http://EzineArticles.com/?Dating-Anniversary-Gifts&id=304340 phentermine w out prescription phentermine diet pills no prescription buy phentermine with no rx buy phentermine 37.5 mg

By Eliza Maledevic You see, there have been a growing number of people who are suffering from weight problems. If you really wish to lose weight, there are a lot of ways to do it. There are a lot of people who tends to neglect there health, reasons why they suffer from obesity or weight problems. They usually eat whatever they want. They ever dont find time for physical activity, since they are too busy with their work, which requires them to sit for eight hours in front of the computer. So a lot of people are getting fat, because they tent to neglect their health. But it doesnt mean where you are fat, obese or have weight problems, you will jump over the bridge. A big NO, do not lose hope, there are a lot of things to do and ways in order to lose weight, what it really takes is determination and eagerness to lose that unwanted weight. If you are determined to lose weight, find herbal remedy that can help you lose weight. You can use herbal remedy like hoodia. Actually, hoodia is one of the most popular diet pills that can help you lose weight. It comes with pill form and it can also be in a liquid form, which is best for people who are having difficulties in swallowing tablets. There are a lot of herbal remedies out in the market, choose which you believe is best for you, but in choosing make sure that it has certification in order for you to know that it will really work effectively and with no harmful side effects. You can choose and purchase the best herbal remedy you like and add it with your daily regimen. But of course, do not let the herbal remedy works on its own, definitely it cant be that effective it you wont help out in this process of losing weight. If you want to lose weight and be healthy, you have to do something about it. Maintain balance diet is advisable. You have to observe the food you take, better to lessen your calorie intake; this is helpful in losing unwanted fats. Eat the right amount of fruits and vegetables daily. Eating right amount of fruits and vegetables can help you lose weight and can make you healthy and strong. Another important thing you need to give time is exercise. Walking or jogging, even about 30 minutes each day can be helpful in losing weight and in becoming healthy. In order to lose weight and be healthy, you can take herbal remedy; add it to your daily regimen, watch your food, lessen the calorie intake, better to take fruits and vegetables each day and proper exercise, all these can help you to lose weight and to be healthy. As a piece of advice, never neglect the expertise of your doctor. You can consult him and let him know your plans and the herbal remedy you desire to take. Your doctor can give you advice on which herbal remedy that will be best for your losing weight process. If you are having weight problems, start taking good care of your health. This article mentioned few tips on how to lose weight and to be healthy. So start giving your part in order to lose weight. Article Author Eliza Maledevic from http://www.Jump2top.com, a SEO Company.Know more about Hoodia Gordinii athttp://www.primeherbal.com/hoodia Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eliza_Maledevic http://EzineArticles.com/?Lose-Weight-and-Be-Healthy&id=496188 buy valium otc diazepam online recept valium where to buy getting valium online

By Alex Barrington What is your marketing IQ? Are you in need of a little help or are you marketing brilliantly? Take the following quick and easy (not to mention enlightening) quiz and find out! 1. What is the best competitive advantage that any business can promote? a. qualityb. servicec. priced. None of the above; they are all poor choices 2. What is the most important factor when identifying your market niche? a. Who you are b. Demographic datac. Psycographic datad. Past economic trends within the targeted niche 3. What are two of the six categories of totally integrated marketing? a. Advertising and Direct Mailb. Networking and Personal Marketingc. Business Communications and Pricingd. Customer Development and Promotions 4. Of the six marketing categories, how many should you be working at any one time? a. oneb. twoc. fourd. six 5. How important is the creative element in advertising? a. Most important - its what gets noticed! b. Less than 10% of the impact of an ad is in its creativityc. There are no studies done; we dont know the answer so we have to guessd. Of medium importance; about 50% of the impact of an ad is in its creative factor . When implementing a direct mail campaign, what is most important? a. Who you send it to (e.g., the list)b. How many times you send itc. The offer you make in your direct mail pieced. None of the above - they are all equally important! 7. What is the most effective way to start a 1 or 2 person business? a. advertisingb. networkingc. part-timed. none of the above 8. What is historys most effective direct mail piece and why? a. Publishers Clearing House; it has a highly valuable give-away prizeb. Wall Street Journal; it talks about the two brothers who started the paperc. Unknown; it cannot be measured because you cant directly track advertising resultsd. Time-Life Books direct mail campaign; it has both consistent reach and frequency 9. What two things make a good headline? a. Large, offset letters and a powerful statementb. White letters in a black box and a questionc. A powerful statement and a yes questiond. There are no guidelines, thats why its difficult to craft a good headline 10. What is the primary purpose of marketing? a. Getting your company name out thereb. Generating leadsc. Generating profitsd. Generating sales AnswersScore one point for each correct answer. 1.d;87% of all businesses promote quality, service, or price as their competitive advantage. Because they do, it is ineffective and you must select another aspect of your business to function as your competitive advantage. 2.a;in almost all cases who you are is the most important aspect of determining your market niche; for instance, if you are a CPA and your passionate hobby is riding motorcycles, you would be well advised to target businesses in the motorcycle industry (as opposed to doctors, daycare centers, or other options). Why? Because within the motorcycle industry, you have the asset of instant rapport; you walk their walk, you can talk their talk. (Of course you neednt turn away other business; your marketing dollars are simply spent within your natural market niche). 3.d;customer Development and Promotions are two of the six totally integrated Brilliant Marketing categories. 4.d; six - if you had six horses and you wanted to get from Denver to San Diego, you wouldnt put five horses in the back of the wagon, run one to death, and then put him away and run the next one to death; youd put all six out in front, to synergistically get you where you are going (efficiently and expediently). 5.b; less than 10% of the impact of any ad is in its creativity (it may get noticed, but if its difficult to read, or if it doesnt focus on the sell, then it doesnt do you any good!) 6.a; although d wouldve made a good answer (they are all important), a is technically the correct answer. The list (who you send it to) accounts for up to 60% of the success of a direct mail campaign. 7.b;networking (and it makes perfect sense when you know that 87% of all business is based on repeat or referred transactions). 8.b;the Wall Street Journal created the most successful direct mail piece; its success is based on the element of rapport which it establishes when discussing the two brothers. 9.c;a strong headline is either a powerful statement (STOP THE PAIN) or a yes question (important for psychological buy-in). 10.c;never ever forget, marketing has one purpose… to generate profits! Analysis 10 Congratulations! You are Brilliant! 8-9 Excellent! You understand marketing exceptionally well. 5-7 Good; but you will most certainly benefit from additional marketing knowledge; more than likely, you have fallen prey to common marketing myths. Learning the truth will make a huge difference in your marketing results. Alex Barrington, creator of The Brilliant Marketing! System is the micro-business marketing pioneer of our time. As a degreed consultant, speaker, author, and regular radio talk show guest, Alex has worked with thousands of micro businesses over the last 15 years. The Brilliant Marketing! System is Alex’s innovative, fresh approach to micro-business marketing. Following this brilliantly simple, step-by-step system results in a custom Living Marketing Manual — a marketing tool that focuses on using only low-or-no-cost ideas to successfully market a small business… and its so revolutionary that it virtually makes marketing plans obsolete. Complete information on The Brilliant Marketing! System and how you can create your own Living Marketing Manual (as well as info on Alex’s books) is available at http://www.brilliant-marketing-for-small-business.com/ebooks.html (And while youre there don’t forget to get your FREE copy of Alexs quick-read eBook, Brilliant Marketing! 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By Jaruda Boonsuwan NO! When I say “5 P’s”, I’m not talking about the big 5 P’s of marketing everyone’s familiar with. Here I’m NOT referring to Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Package! But I’m talking about the FRESHEST 5 P’s I believe will be extra useful for your websites and newsletters. Are you ready to discover the hottest 5 P’s? 1. P.S. This writing technique alone will shoot your sales to the roof! Count how many times this week you skip reading the whole sales copies and go right for a P.S. We don’t like reading a long letter. Most of the time, we skip. So, it’s a clever idea to give your prospects a big bang with a P.S. They never skip reading a P.S. Perhaps they’re too bored or too tired to read “another” sales letter. Perhaps they like to cheat and want to see the final punch, if it’s right for them or not. So, make sure you wrap up all of your ICE-MELTING “selling points” in here! Shrink your message. Make it precise. Make your prospects feel they can’t live “comfortably” without your product or service. After all, it’s your last shot to make a sale! 2. PASS People love a free pass, even if it’s only temporary! Don’t worry if you don’t know how to let people type in the password to access your restricted area. It’s not the end of the world. Here’s where you can get the script for FREE at… http://www.dynamicdrive.com Here’s a cutting-edge trick: Give them a free password to access your newsletter/ article archives, for example, in exchange for their email addresses. Do not give them the password right at your website. Instead, send them the password by email. Now, this is important…Set up an autoresponder to do this task. Make sure they get their passwords instantly. They can’t wait another minute longer to access the free section. It’s a MUST that you have an autoresponder, especially if you publish a newsletter. Get it at… http://www.mailloop.com/t.cgi/769736/ Now this is important! Do not make this offer sound like a junk! You can say that you’re giving away “free membership”. Say it is a “privileged” or a “VIP” pass. Or simply say that they’re “the chosen one”. This way, your prospects will be eager to get the free access you’re offering. It’s human nature. We all want to be a Very Important Person! 3. PROMISE You’ve got to promise your prospects something important…like money-back guarantee. But don’t just say “one-year, money-back guarantee”! Do say…”And if 365 days from now, you decide you want your money back, I’ll ask you absolutely no questions. And even if it’s just because you’re $27 short and can’t buy some beers, I still won’t ask you why. You’ll get your money back as soon as you say so. I can guarantee you that!” 4. PICK OF THE DAY When you go to a restaurant, the first thing you always notice is the “Menu of the Day”! Even if you don’t order it, you’re still curious to see what’s new for today, right? The same thing works with your website. Once your prospects leave your site — without signing up for your free newsletter, your business depends on pure LUCK. Too bad people don’t buy the first time they see you. And if you still want to win them back, you might have to spend some more bucks on advertising. Now, it doesn’t have to be this way…The only one reason that’ll keep people coming back to your site is something NEW every day! Showcase the “Pick of the Day”. And they’ll come back to your site from time to time to see what’s new. See? You don’t even have to pay for the traffic. It can be “Tip of the Day”, “Site of the Week”, “Star of the Month”, ….anything you can think of! 5. PIECE OF ADVICE How many times have you read newsletters chock full of the word “buy now”? This is the mistake that can drive your subscribers away faster than jet speed! Your prospects want to read something useful. They simply don’t want another junk mail. If you don’t stop selling to them –just for a second– you’ll risk losing them forever. They’ll disappear “out of your sight”. So, in your newsletter, try to give them little tips that teach them how to make their lives easier. Suppose you’re selling a beauty product, instead of hard selling, try giving them a short makeup tip of how to make their lips look fuller. If you’re an affiliate for a used car website and running your own ezine, instead of selling cars all the time, try giving them a reliable tip that teaches them how not to get ripped off buying a used car. P.S. Give it a try. I’m sure these freshest 5 P’s can easily add the punch to your websites or newsletters next time you decide to try something new. About The Author The author, Jaruda Boonsuwan, is offering one-of-its-kind, deadly-effective copywriting e-course — at NO charge. 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By Rick Johnson Problems with staffing and retention may not be due to bad hires or a low unemployment rate. In fact, they may be related to poor management insight by not recognizing your employees as a core competency in your business strategy. Although employees may not fit the strictest definition of a core competency, it is a fact that your employees are the ones responsible for creating many of your core competencies. It is an undisputable fact that failure to recognize the importance of employee contributions will lead to failure regardless of your business strategy. Recruitment and Retention Creating a strategic plan and definitive initiatives is the easy part of the formula for success. The difficult part is finding, recruiting and retaining the appropriate talent combination in todays market to carry out that plan.Recruitment and retention are major issues in the wholesale distribution industry today. These issues are especially critical to the service center industry for two reasons: First, distribution is one of our aged-basic industries that doesnt project the excitement of the high-tech industries and the dot coms of the new millennium (even though many have crashed and burned). Second, the number of employees between the ages of 25 and 44, traditionally the bulk of the workforce, will continue to decline in the United States for at least the next five years. The baby-boomers are aging quickly toward retirement.Under these circumstances, how in the world does a distributor not only recruit new talent, but protect the talent they have? Questions about compensation, training, incentives, benefits and work environment always come to the forefront. The answer is committing to becoming an employer of choice (EOC) with as much tenacity as you commit to being a supplier of choice, always wanting the first call and last look. Pay Attention Many distribution executives pay far too little attention to this part of their businesses. Often the mindset is that this is the touchy-feely stuff thats a non-revenue producing necessary evil. Maybe that thought process didnt hurt the company in the 80s or early 90s when unemployment in some areas reached 10%, but thats not the case today where the labor unemployment rate in many markets is less than 4%. When unemployment is that low, most people who are unemployed just dont want to work. As a result, there is a lot of corporate raiding going on. Even with the recent struggles of the automotive industry and some high-tech industries, unemployment remains at a level that just is not conducive to recruitment and retention. So whats the answer? Going on midnight raids? Offering BMWs as signing bonuses? Paying way above market wages? NO, the answer is building a human resource strategy into your business plan. Get over the old paradigm that human resource departments are too costly and of little value. In fact, those distributors that adopt that philosophy actually spend more money by having highly compensated managers, particularly sales managers, running ads, receiving resumes and doing preliminary interviews when they should be selling. The costs associated with that process as well as the revenue lost due to extended position vacancies inevitably far exceeds the annual costs of dedicated human resource professionals. Secondly, a huge percentage of new hires will jump ship within 18 months if they sense the company is not committed to its employees. They will jump if the company does not accept them into the fold properly by offering initial orientation, subsequent training and a culture that treats the employee as the companys most precious assets. The question is not, Can you afford to invest in this soft touchy-feely stuff? The question becomes, Can you afford to not invest in your most important asset, your employees?The old paradigm creates a bias against paying attention to the human element of the workforce. Many wholesale distribution executives that do strategic business plans initiate from the top down instead of the bottom up often ignoring the real value of a strategic plan. The real value is the involvement and education of your employees in completing the plan, not in the document itself. Are you at the mercy of your workforce? This bias that exists in many distributors is almost as though admitting that employees are the most precious of corporate assets will lead to an anarchy on which owners and managers will fall at the mercy of the workforce. Well, shake your head in disbelief if you want to, but the reality of the situation is that you are at the mercy of your workforce. The rules have to continue to change. If you arent willing to admit that and get your head in the game then you wont survive in the new millennium. People are not profits but without people there are no profits. Some wholesales distributors recognized their dilemma years ago. Many of the top performers in wholesale distribution are at the top because they strive to be employers of choice. These are forward thinking distributors that have found solutions to their recruitment and retention challenges. Following in their footsteps requires an initial gut check. Honestly ask yourself how your employees would answer questions like: Do you receive counseling on a career plan? Is there a current wage and salary plan in place? Do performance incentives exist? Do you receive regular training and instruction? Do you receive performance updates and recognition beyond a once a year chat with your boss? Does customer feedback play a role in performance evaluations? Are suggestions reviewed and awarded? Is there both a formal and informal communication channel? These questions relate to the basic core competencies of human resources: staffing, training, rewarding, recognizing and organizing. The business strategic plan cannot succeed without paying attention to this part of the business. You must facilitate your employees involvement and feedback into this process. This basic premise in implementation across wholesale distribution varies according to size. The same plan for a $20 million privately held distributor would not work for a $500 million distributor. EOC To solve your recruitment and retention problems you must strive to become an Employer of Choice. To accomplish that objective you must have a Human Resources strategy that is integrated into your corporate strategic plan that acknowledges and recognizes the employees as the companys most precious asset. Dr. Rick Johnson (rick@ceostrategist.com) is the founder of CEO Strategist LLC. an experienced based firm specializing in leadership. CEO Strategist LLC. works in an advisory capacity with company executives in board representation, executive coaching, team coaching and education and training to make the changes necessary to create or maintain competitive advantage. You can contact them by calling 352-750-0868, or visit http://www.ceostrategist.com for more information. Rick received an MBA from Keller Graduate School in Chicago, Illinois and a Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management from Capital University, Columbus Ohio. Rick recently completed his dissertation on Strategic Leadership and received his Ph.D. Hes also a published book author with four titles to his credit: The Toolkit for Improved Business Performance in Wholesale Distribution, the NWFA & NAFCD Roadmap, Lone Wolf-Lead WolfThe Evolution of Sales and a fiction novel - Shattered Innocence. 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By Lori Radun Do you remember when there were no children in your life? Hanging out with your spouse was your first priority. You had fun going on dates. You had time to talk and share with each other your days events. And sex was something you looked forward to. And then along came Ryan or Megan, and then maybe Benjamin or Kaylee. Suddenly, life became centered on your children. Time for each other as a couple was rare. If you and your spouse plan to be a happy couple after the children have left, you need to grow and connect with each other today. While there are no guarantees that you and your spouse will be one of those cute, old couples in “When Harry Met Sally,” there are things you can do to increase your odds. When I think of the marriage ceremony, the unity candle is an excellent symbol for what should happen in marriage. Two candles (two people) come together to light one big candle (one team). A healthy marriage has unity. Always think of your spouse as a teammate. Create a marriage with a shared vision and shared goals. Your husband should be your best friend, and you should be his. Your marriage is a place for intimacy, and being intimate means sharing completely and honestly who you are your feelings, likes and dislikes, your dreams, and what is important to you. Intimacy happens when both people can share anything and feel safe in doing so. You and your spouse will always be growing, so take the time to understand each other in every way socially, emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Intimacy is only achieved by spending time together regularly. Safety in marriage comes from knowing you can trust your partner completely. Being trustworthy means you love and respect your spouse. You keep your commitments and strive to treat each other with compassion and understanding. Your spouse needs to know without a doubt that you are not going anywhere, even when the going gets tough. Every marriage has conflict and every couple has differences. In my marriage, we fight over disciplining the children, among other things. If you are going to grow and connect with your spouse, you have to learn to work through your disagreements. Make every effort to understand each other. Understanding comes about when you can listen with your heart. Its so much easier to brainstorm win-win solutions when there is a clear understanding of what is important to each partner. Speaking of differences, the healthy couple accepts and embraces each others strengths and weaknesses. If you think about it, there is a positive and a negative to every quality. I have a lot of compassion, but sometimes I am too sensitive. My husband provides structure in our family, but sometimes he is too rigid. When one spouse has a perceived weakness, often times the other balances it with a strength. For instance, my flexibility and his structure often conflict. However, our family needs both. Encourage the development of your spouse’s strengths and be patient with the weaknesses. When you spend time getting to know each other and sharing yourself, you will naturally feel affectionate. Sexual intimacy is an important element in marriage. In order for women to desire sex, there needs to be healthy emotional intimacy. And men, unfortunately, achieve emotional closeness through physical intimacy. It is important for each partner to work to satisfy the others needs. Make the time to ignite the passion. It is important for a couple to grow together, but it is also important for each person in the marriage to grow individually. It takes a lot of hard work and maintenance to make your marriage thrive, but it is well worth it. Your children need a model for a healthy marriage. And, when the children have left to start their own lives, won’t it be nice to look at your spouse and say, I want to spend the rest of my years with you, my friend? Lori Radun, certified life coach for moms. Get her FREE monthly ezine for moms who want healthier and happier lives at http://www.true2youlifecoaching.com. 2005 True to You Life Coaching, LLC Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lori_Radun http://EzineArticles.com/?Growing-and-Connecting-with-Your-Spouse&id=27183 buy tramadol online 150 pills buy tramadol ultram generic ultram buy buy dream online pharmaceutical tramadol

By Kristin Johnson If you’re one of the many vacationers this summer who dread split ends and dried-out hair after a day at the beach or pool, or find that the sun isn’t kind to healthy tresses, or discover that the partial weave doesnt look as good as in the magazines, there’s a better alternative to hair extensions, minoxidil, and high-priced salons. You may be having a bad hair day because of what you put in your mouth. Studies by hair loss prevention researchers at MMT Research Inc. found that bad hair days abound when we don’t get enough vitamins or protein. Bad nutrition causes hair loss (androgenic alopecia). In the April 2003 issue of Better Nutrition, zinc, for example, inhibits high levels of DHT, a form of testosterone that is linked to hair loss. Other inhibitors are amino acids such as L-arginine, essential fatty acids such as omega-3 (found in fish), lecithin, B vitamins, lutein, sulfur, iron, and minerals that help your magnificent mane. You can find these hair helpers in: Beans Whole grains Eggs Salmon Raw nuts Flax and pumpkin seeds Berries Dark greens Salmon and greens also provide calcium for your teeth, so you’re helping your hair and teeth. Berries are high in cancer-preventing antioxidants, and dark greens also contain lutein, which halts blindness and cataracts. So when you eat all of the above, you’ll have a great hair day and look like you just had a day at a luxury spa. In 2004, Dr. Nicholas Perricones bestselling book, THE PERRICONE PROMISE, outlined a diet for hair that differs from the 2003 recommendations. Perricones hair diet may seem as much of a fairy tale as Rapunzel. (Remember, though, Rapunzels mom wisely decided to eat greens during pregnancy!) Dr. Perricones top ten hair superfoods are no secret to health enthusiasts: Acai berries that contain powerful antioxidants Allium foodsonions, garlic, leeks, and shallots with powerful bioflavonoids Barley rich in niacin, which helps hair growth Wheatgrass, spirulina, and algae that cleanse the hair of toxins and provide essential fatty acids to build hair protein Buckwheat (eat your pancakes), which Perricone says is richer in vitamins, flavonoids, and minerals than other grains (except barley) Beans and lentils, for the same reasons as the 2003 study Hot peppers, which contain capsaicin that stops the pain so you dont tear your hair out! Nuts and seeds, which contain essential proteins, phytochemicals and fatty acids to build healthy tresses sand reduce signs of aging Sproutstheyre great for a youthful body, including the body in your hair Yogurt and kefir, which are said to promote longevity and health in people who live in the Caucasus Mountains in Russiaremember Julie Christies gorgeous hair in Doctor Zhivago? While you can eat your way to healthy hair, many hair formula supplements crowd the market. In general, a multivitamin containing biotin, especially multivitamins for women, will strengthen your hair, skin and nails. Be sure to compare vitamin supplements, and make sure you dont get an excess of vitamin D, which can lead to cancer as well as too much calcium that your body cant process. Dont count on supplements to save your hair. Also, dont expect to look like youve just stepped out of a hair commercial after changing your diet. Youll start to see healthier hair three months after you improve your regimen. You can jazz up your beauty routine with juicing, dehydrating, and sprouting. Better nutrition will help color-treated hair maintain its bounce, too. And drinking water is always a great idea. Youre worth it! Kristin Johnson is health editor for LivingRight.com, your source forhealth-improving appliances such as the Blendtec Kitchen Mill Grain Mill and the Green Star Juicer. Visit http://www.livingright.com for healthappliances and ideas on living right. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristin_Johnson http://EzineArticles.com/?Good-Hair-Day:-Nutrition-for-Healthy-Hair&id=210778 homade incest movies mom and boy incest incest stories archives incest stories cousin

By Rori Gwynne The first four years of my now glorious 18-year marriage followed the same, not glorious, hugely painful pattern all my other relationships had. All the passion turned to tension and all the fun turned to bickering and then he withdrew. He went cold and got angry. Suddenly, I realized I didnt feel all that warmly towards him either. He thought I was being controlling, and I thought he wasnt cutting it. We were both right. Overfunctioning is doing too much. It’s doing more than your share, stepping in to help, stepping up to rescue. It’s offering before being asked, giving instead of giving back. It’s trying to manage your life and get things done by playing all the parts in the relationship — both your part and his. Overfunctioning is a deeply unsatisfying thing. Trying to play your man’s part in the relationship as well as yours (like I did) creates tension and conflict — and even if you could succeed at it, you wouldnt like the results. If you turn your man into a puppet you can manipulate, youre not going to like him very much. Youll have clean dishes and no garbage, and a Saturday night date at the restaurant and movie of your choice, but look — your man will be a puppet! Not much fun there. So — do you deserve a red-blooded, real, strong minded, secure, responsible, respectable, thoughtful, and caring man? Or do you only deserve a shadow of yourself? Can you allow yourself to be loved by a man who can really love? Or can you only sign up with a man who makes it one-third the way to you and then expects you to pick up the slack? By always picking up the slack — and I know it always seems like what needs doing is urgent and important — what you get by doing it all yourself is mostly your own feeling of resentment. You dont get the appreciation we all crave — you get coldness, anger, and withdrawal. It seems so unfair to put ourselves out, to be helpful, and then get what feels like a slap in the face. And yet, what were really getting is the safe place (unpleasant as it is) of avoiding finding out what our men are really made of. By always cutting to the chase and doing everything ourselves - or directing how its done - we put up a wall between ourselves and our men that keeps us from getting what we all say we really want: The Big Ticket Items - Love, Affection, Romance, Trust, Harmony, Peace, the ability to Negotiate anything. (And I mean anything.) By always stepping in, we guarantee that our lives with our men will always be about the small stuff - the nuts and bolts of life, and not the deep, soul-satisfying stuff that we come together in relationships and marriage to get. If what we want is soul connection, we have to stop Overfunctioning. Since childhood, we’ve been labeled, taught, tricked, bribed and prodded, been threatened by all forms of authority, told what’s true and what isn’t, and disrespected for everything from our feelings to our thoughts. Our relationships have been more about pleasing others than pleasing ourselves. More about struggling and using our wits to get what we need and what we think we want than discovering what it is we really want. Many of us dont even really believe we deserve a great relationship. Well, we do. We all do. And we dont need to do anything to deserve it. We just deserve it. No earning required. If we can stop doing so much and stop resenting doing so much, our relationship will get better instead of falling apart. Try it. What if you really didnt have to watch how things are going, didnt have to ask for everything you want, stopped overseeing the doing of things that are important to you even though youve already agreed that its his job, and could just relax and be? Its a little scary. Each of us has learned ways to keep pain away. And those things we do and say that help keep pain away also shut out love. As soon as we stop doing those things, and love comes in, sometimes we begin to feel things weve been avoiding feeling for a very long time. For some of us, feeling loved is mixed up with feeling pain. We feel scared to be vulnerable. Sometimes it takes a while to begin to trust ourselves and our boundaries enough to really allow ourselves to be vulnerable - and enjoy both being vulnerable and experiencing the miraculous effect our vulnerability has on our men. So take it slow. Baby steps is the way to go. Make a list of all the things you do in the household, on a date, and in a relationship, and pick three things that seem easy to let go of. And then stop doing them. Just stop. It might get a little messy. At first he may get a bit bent out of shape that youre not on him, at him, throwing love and attention at him or doing for him all the time - but secretly, hell start feeling seriously better about your relationship. And youll feel seriously better, too, when he starts giving you (without youre even asking) what you really want - attention, affection, sweetness, the doing of household chores. Remember, its about the Big Ticket items. Affection. Great sex. Harmony. Being able to negotiate. Fun. Peace. Trust. Emotional safety. Keep your eye on the prize: Stop giving all your energy to managing your man and everything in your daily lives, and start using it to love yourself first. In her packed Los Angeles workshops, relationship coach, author, speaker and seminar leader Rori Gwynne teaches women the completely original, controversial, simple-to-do techniques for communication, confidence, and connecting with men that she used to turn her own now-glorious eighteen-year marriage around. Visit Rori at http://www.CoachRori.com/ to get free Tip Sheets, to sign up for the free, powerful CoachRori Newsletter, and to see how Rori can help you Turn the Relationship You Have Into the Relationship you Want. 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