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It’s that time again, when we all are trying to decide upon those New Year resolutions that we intend to institute and commit to. We are already well into January 2006; Have you started your New Year yet? Have you already decided upon your resolution? Will you continue or have you already conceded failure? Will you try again? Why is it so difficult to do this one simple thing?

Human beings are complex beings composed of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual components. We are creatures of habit. Most of us resist change, tending to yield to that which we find comfortable. We often feel threatened by complexity and technology, preferring that which is safe and familiar. Proclaiming a resolution or goal for the New Year is fun to announce and discuss but often difficult to begin, much less accomplish in a timely manner.

Our brains work in mysterious yet somewhat predictable ways, as scientists have recently discovered. Did you know that the act of simply writing down your new resolution and reviewing it often, possibly by placing it in a place where you will be exposed to it often, such as on the bathroom mirror, drastically increases the odds that you will indeed accomplish that goal? Take time to re-write your goal each day and increase your success rate even more! In fact, if you will simply read and/or write your goal each morning when you arise and again each evening before going to sleep, you will enable your subconscious mind to work on driving you towards it when you awaken again. This is a truly amazing phenomenon that actually works. It has worked for me and countless others, and it will work for you as well.

We now know that it takes no less than three weeks to form a new habit. If you have decided, for instance, that you will drink a glass of soymilk each morning as part of a heart-healthy strategy, you must actually consume that soymilk each morning, preferably at the same time, for at least three weeks before it becomes habitual. You will learn to enjoy it and will surely miss it if you do not have that refreshing drink on any given morning! You see, it is really that simple.

Anthony Robbins teaches that we are all driven by the emotions of pain and pleasure. As humans, we continuously seek pleasure and avoid pain at all costs. If an activity, dieting for instance, is associated with pain and discomfort in your brain, then you are going to find it quite difficult to institute any quality, successful dietary program unless you change how you feel about it. If you associate great pleasure with the thought of your body with twenty pounds less weight around your mid-section, then you probably will have the drive and conviction to deny yourself those tempting extra calories. You will associate great pain and discomfort with the image of yourself as you currently are. The pleasure associated with a lean body will drive you through the temporary, short-term discomfort of the diet.

The truth of the matter is that all resolutions or goals are basically a matter of personal decision. Brian Tracy, a master trainer and expert in personal development says it all in one simple statement: “Simply do what you resolve to do.” Nike says “Just do it.” Yoda says “Try? Try? There is no try, only do.” There is no simpler, more direct description of how to achieve ongoing success in any personal endeavor. Decide what it is that you want, make your plan to achieve it and get busy!

A cheesecake may seem simple enough, but it can actually be one of the hardest pastries to whip up for someone with no experience. And no matter how closely you follow cheesecake recipes, your cake could still fall apart if you don’t know the secret steps. Here are some less-popular, but very effective, cheesecake recipe tips to make your cheesecake a big hit.

Use only the best ingredients. Your cheesecake is just as good as the eggs you use to make it, so be sure to buy only the freshest. You should also be very careful about the cheese you choose – unless you’re on a strict diet, ditch the fat-free cream version and go for the real cream cheese. No matter what health buffs say, the real pastereurized kind still tastes better.

Be sure the ingredients are at room temperature, especially the cream cheese and the eggs. Otherwise, no matter how hard you try, your cheesecake will never be smooth. How do you bake when your cream cheese is frozen? Just microwave it on high for a little less than a minute or until it softens up. If you overdo it and the cream cheese melts, refrigerate it until it is just the right temperature.

Don’t bake the fruit. This tip seems simple enough, and yet many people forget about it. Just add in the fruits as toppings later so they can retain their freshness, flavor, and color.

Don’t peek! Opening the oven door when the cheesecake is not yet baked can ruin it. Your cheesecake can have cracks, or worse, may even fall apart. So restrain yourself until it’s done.

Wait thirty minutes before removing the cheesecake from the oven. After baking, just turn off the oven and let your cheesecake sit for another half hour. This waiting time will make it perfectly puffed and moist.

As we close out one year and ring in another, many people tend to get sentimental and reflect upon the ending of another year. What has your year been like? A year comprises:

• 365 days • 8,760 hours • 525,600 minutes • 31,536,000 seconds

How is your year ending? One dictionary definition for “end” is the point in time when an action, an event, or a phenomenon ceases or is completed; the conclusion.

For some of you it has been a year where:

• Jobs ended • Dear ones suffered and may have died • A relationship ended • Nature’s destruction forever changed your way of life

For others of you this has been a year that was filled with much excitement, happy times, accomplishment, success and opportunities. The other shoe didn’t drop when the unexpected occurred.

Either way, these 365 days are coming to a close. You’ve traded a year in your life for it. Kevin Welch stated, “There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read ‘em, but all that’s going to matter is that little dash between ‘em.”

This year was one portion of that dash. One year is ending and another is beginning. A beginning – a new start – an opportunity to take a first step at something. What changes could you make in this year that will impact the remainder of the dash? What one change could you make this year that would add momentum to make other changes?

So when December 31st rolls around and a wave of sentimentality hits you, think about those 8,760 hours; 525,600 minutes; and 31,536,000 seconds. What will you trade a year in your life for?

Ringworm means the fungus infection that affects the scalp, body, feet and the nails. In ringworm a red ring appears on the infected person’s skin and cause itching. It is contagious and may spread with direct or with indirect contact. Ringworm is caused due to several different fungus organisms that belong to a group called Dermatophytes, derma means skin and phytes means organisms.

Causes of Ringworm

Ringworm can be passed from one person to the other by direct skin-to-skin contact or by contact with contaminated articles such as unwashed clothing, and shower or pool surfaces. Pets like dogs and cats that carry fungus can cause ringworm. The other causes of ringworm are prolonged wetness of the skin and the minor injuries of the skin and nails.

Signs and symptoms of ringworm include:

* A circle of rash on your skin that’s red and inflamed around the edge and healthy looking in the middle
* Slightly raised expanding rings of red, scaly skin on your trunk or face
* A round, flat patch of itchy skin

Home Remedies for Ringworm

* One of the most effective home remedy for ringworm is the use of mustard seeds. A paste made from the seed can be applied over the affected areas.
* The use of raw papaya has been proved beneficial in the treatment of ringworm. A few slices of the unripe fruits can be rubbed on the patches twice in a day.
* A paste made of dry seeds of papaya can be applied on the patches.
* The use of castor oil is good for the scalp ringworm treatment. The oil should be rubbed on the affected areas of the hair regularly.
* Raw vegetables juices, especially carrot juice in combination with spinach juice has been proved beneficial in the ringworm treatment.
* Coconut oil can be applied to the affected areas as it will keep the skin soft and prevent itching of skin.
* A light mudpack applied over the areas of the ringworm is helpful. The pack should be applied for half an hour twice in a day.
* Tea, coffee, condiments, highly flavoured dishes, sugar, white flour products, denatured cereals and tinned or bottled foods should not be taken.

Can I Prevent Ringworm?

The most common sources of the fungi that cause tinea infections are other people. Ringworm is contagious and is easily spread from one person to another, so avoid touching an infected area on another person. It’s also possible to become infected from contact with animals, like cats and dogs.

Computer monitoring software is used to spy on a person’s internet activities. There are software programs nowadays that can track everything a person does on the computer - record instant message conversations, log emails sent and received, record all visited websites, so on and so on.

The programs can be hidden from the unsuspecting user, and they usually have no idea they are being monitored. Only the person who installed it, and is doing the monitoring, will know where it is, and how to access all the devious activity, if there is any.

There are three primary uses for computer monitoring. To monitor your child’s internet activity, spy on your spouse or partner, or track your employees activities at the workplace (if you own a business).Is it ethical? In most cases I believe it is, in others there is a gray area.

In the case of monitoring our children, I do believe we as parents have every right to know what they are up to. The internet can be a very dangerous place for kids, and has become a haven for sexual predators.

How do you think your teen would react if they found out you were watching them? They would probably go ballistic on you for betraying their trust.

I would suggest just telling them that you will be keeping an eye on their activities, and explain why. You do not have to tell them you are using spy software, just one warning to tell them you know what’s going on, should suffice. It’s our duty to protect our kids and ensure their safety in any way we can.

Just give them a warning that you will be watching and set limits on their internet use. Make their working computer in the living room or den, a computer in their bedroom is asking for trouble. Even when your not at home, you can view their activities from a remote computer, if your working or on vacation. You can even see what they are doing remotely from another computer in the house you have access to.

Catching the cheating spouse. This is where it can get dangerous. I had once caught my exgirlfriend exchanging rather erotic emails with some guy over the web. Sure enough, she was having an affair. She had forgotten to log off her yahoo email account, and when I was checking my yahoo email, she was still logged on.

You can imagine I felt hurt and betrayed. This ultimately led to our break up, because she started dating the guy. I just think how would I feel if she was the one spying on me? I would feel very betrayed that she did not trust me. However, there is something inside all of us, that just has to know the truth. If you use computer monitoring on your spouse or partner, be careful your not caught. If your more computer savvy than them, most likely they will not know. If you are the faithful one, you certainly have a right to know.

Employees at the workplace. You want to make sure your employees are actually working and not goofing off at their workstations. With computer monitoring software, you can monitor multiple workstations at once. Is it ethical? Well, only the employees who have something to hide would say no.

You are trying to run a business, paying workers , you run the show. You have every right to know where your hard earned money is going. I would personally just let them know upon hiring, that all workstations are monitored for productivity.

I learned to take famous and successful people off the pedestal I had them on (or if you prefer, elevate myself and everyone else, to their level) in part from a fellow writer, one who’s work I have admired and love for years. His name is Jonny Lang and he is better known for his bluesie voice than his writing, but he writes at least most of his own songs.

I love music by artists. It seems like most music on the radio is by performers who’s primary interest is selling you something. The words are bland and cliché. They sound as if a computer working off Gallup Polls wrote them. This music is like pornography; it can deliver some small pleasure without demanding any input. John Stuart Mill said people should be educated to enjoy the higher pleasures. Music by artists is one of the higher pleasures, and demands some input (education). Retail music is barbarian in its simplicity. When the Visigoths were listening to Hits 106 radio, the Greeks were going to small outdoor concerts to hear artists. Jonny Lang is an artist and fittingly I saw him at a small outdoor concert in Austin.

The concert was incredible but that’s not where I leaned about successful people. That was after the concert. We stood inline to meet the band and get autographs. Now Jonny Lang is not a huge name. He is not the Rolling Stones, and I know that, but he was a thousand or so miles from home and a thousand or so people paid money to see him play. He has a big nice tour bus, one that you would not be surprised to see Mic Jagger step out of, so he is a successful musician.

My party was at the end of the line so when we got to him there was no pressure for us to move on. He was a normal person physically, this did not surprise me, flesh and blood, but he was really a normal guy. He was the kind of guy that I could have had a class with or met at church or the gym. We visited for 10 or 15 minutes. He ask if we enjoyed the concert and we said we did. We visited about music and told him he was very bold to be so open with his Christian faith in a largely secular arena. We visited about Austin and explained the rivalry between the University of Texas and Texas A&M. We ask him if he wanted to get a cup of coffee but he said he needed to hit the road (he was opening for Steve Miller the next day) so we said by and left. It wasn’t that strange to ask him if he wanted to get a cup of coffee and I would not have been surprised if he had accepted.

I don’t know any of these guys personally. For all I now C. S. Lewis might have broken out in hives the day The Screwtape Letters was published, for fear of rejection. The difference between them and me isn’t that they are demigods. Its that they didn’t let the fact that they weren’t demigods keep them from their work. Hemmingway and Lewis published their books and Lang has recorded 5 albums to date. The Truth is I don’t answer to Stranger and if he doesn’t understand my metaphors its his loss, and that’s why I’m sitting on my keister writing now.

The combination of honey and cinnamon has been used in oriental medicine for centuries. Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices known to mankind and honey’s popularity has continued throughout history. The two ingredients with unique healing abilities have a long history as a home remedy. Cinnamon’s essential oils and honey’s enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide qualify the two “anti-microbial” foods with the ability to help stop the growth of bacteria as well as fungi. Both are used not just as a beverage flavoring and medicine, but also as an embalming agent and are used as alternatives to traditional food preservatives due to their effective antimicrobial properties. People have claimed that the mixture is a cure for many diseases and a formula for many health benefits:

1) HEART DISEASES: Apply honey and cinnamon powder on bread instead of using jam or butter and eat it regularly for breakfast.

2) ARTHRITIS: Apply a paste made of the two ingredients on the affected part of the body and massage slowly.

3) HAIR LOSS: Apply a paste of hot olive oil, honey, cinnamon powder before bath.

4) BLADDER INFECTIONS: Mix cinnamon powder and honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink.

5) TOOTHACHE: Apply a paste of cinnamon powder and honey and on the aching tooth.

6) CHOLESTEROL: Mix cinnamon powder and honey in boiled water or green tea and drink.

7) COLDS: Make a glass of lukewarm honey water mixed with cinnamon powder.

INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on a spoonful of honey taken before food relieves acidity.

9) LONGEVITY: Regularly take tea made with honey and a little cinnamon powder.

10) PIMPLES: Mix honey with cinnamon powder and apply paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash away the next morning.

11) OBESITY: To reduce weight, daily drink a mixture of honey with cinnamon powder boiled in water with an empty stomach in the morning before breakfast.

12) BAD BREATH: Gargle with honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water so that breath stays fresh throughout the day.

Honey plus cinnamon together besides being a amazing potential cure for so many illnesses, their total fragrant, sweet and warm taste is also a perfect match for the palate. The combination adds a magic effect to the taste of cakes, breads, biscuits and rolls and is known to make many winning recipes in the world of delicious food, such as the famous, easy-to-make, kids’ favourite classic - honey and cinnamon butter toast!

How to think positive. Many people wander the earth believing they the lack the strength and power to achieve their goals. This negative mechanism holds them down. You can gain motivation and live healthier, by simply telling yourself “I can do it.” Anything you put your mind to, you can do it if you want to.

How to tell self I can do it: Just say today I am going for a short walk. Tomorrow I will walk a little longer then the first day. You have to be in control of your thoughts, actions, behaviors, etc by building your power of the mind. Nevertheless, if you do not put your mind to it and you decide that you do not want to become active, and then you are only living a life filled with shortcomings. Your negative reflections will defeat the purpose of getting your thoughts in control. Saying I will do it later, is another negative reflection. This is called procrastination, which leads to laziness. Laziness leads to weak muscles and joints, which gradually builds up to medical problems.

Take control of your thoughts. If you want to do something bad enough you will do what you have to do to get where you want to be. You need to make a goal and stick to it. Create plans that help you to reach your goals, and take action each day to achieve. When you give up, it is a sign that you lack faith in self and is a clear indication of weakness. You need faith to stay strong. As well, you need positive thinking to strive.

Good results: Having a positive attitude will give you a jumpstart to a healthier life. Keep on pushing. When times get hard and you don’t think you can go on just remember I –can- do – this always keep your head up and mind open. Don’t dwell on something you can’t change, rather focus on the things you have power to change.

How to continue positive living: To stay positive you have to admit your feelings and express them. If you feel depressed or frustrated, just say it aloud. There is nothing wrong with showing emotions, providing you do not beat up your best friend physically to express those emotions. Stay in control and express what you feel.

You have to talk about how you feel and don’t blame your self but try to figure out why you are so depressed or frustrated. Failing to discover your intentions or reasons will reduce your control, especially if you do not understand what you need or want. Do not worry about the cause, rather find your wants and needs and the cause will come to you.

Here is some pointer that might help you to get where you want to be. You have to look for a good role model and become acquainted with their way of thinking positive. Try to talk positive and avoid negative talk. Seek some support from friends and family.

Reward yourself with a massage or listen to your favorite music. Make a plan and stay with it no matter what. Just remember you can do whatever you want to do and keep your mind set for the good things and not the bad things. This will make you feel better and make you a happier person. If you’re happy, you will have a healthier life. Don’t forget to create a goal. Don’t make the goal so high that you won’t be able to keep it, but make it so that you can meet your goals.

I hate Shoulds. They’re evil. They scream at me and shake their fingers. Ought to Have to and Must are just as bad. They make me the opposite of motivated.

You SHOULD write another newsletter. You have to!

The way I’m wired, the only possible response is, “Oh no I don’t.” It’s part of my genetic code to resist. In the fight for dominance between me and the giant parent in the sky I will always win. I long ago gave up any chance of being a good person.

This doesn’t serve me all that well. I realized a while back that I’m wasting an awful lot of energy with all that resistance.

I’ve found a way to trick myself– to turn Shoulds into Want Tos. It’s also a good process for any kind of tough decision. Here’s how it goes:

I treat all the choices as equally viable options without judgment, and I ask myself, “What do I like about it?”

For example, I was torn about making a day trip to Boston (about 5 hours driving roundtrip). The reason for going was desirable (see a celebrity I like at a private party) but I don’t much like going into the city and I’m shy about socializing with strangers. Did I really want to gear up for that? It seemed exhausting.

I made an honest list of everything I liked about the idea of going and everything I liked about the idea of not going. I didn’t bother with the reasons against either. They were irrelevant.

When I was done I looked it over and got a sense of the values expressed in both lists. Those expressed in one list were clearly more the person I aspire to be than those in the other. By focussing only on what I liked about each I was able to lift my attitude. I gave myself full permission to make either choice and one was definitely more what I wanted.

I encourage you to try it with a tough decision or a nagging SHOULD. Let me know if you need some help and send me a note about your results if it works for you too.

P.S. I went to the party. The celebrity kissed me.

California law requires that drivers have evidence of auto insurance if they are driving their own car or someone else’s. People who own a vehicle but don’t drive it are still obligated to have auto insurance in California.

California’s Compulsory Financial Responsibility Law necessitates all drivers and owners of an automobile to be financially responsible for their actions. The statutory minimum limits of liability insurance in California are that the person responsible for an accident that results in the death or injury of one person is liable for $15,000, or $30,000 if there are multiple injuries in one accident. The responsible party is liable for $5,000 of property damage for any one accident.

There are four techniques to realize financial responsibility, including coverage by a motor vehicle or automobile liability insurance policy, a cash deposit of $35,000 with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), a certificate of self-insurance issued by DMV to owners of fleets of more than 25 vehicles, or a surety bond for $35,000 obtained from an insurance company licensed to do business in California.

When a vehicle is in an accident for which the driver is established as a legally liable, bodily injury liability covers their liability to others for injuries to them, whereas property damage liability covers their liability for damage to someone else’s property.

All California drivers and owners need to have at least the statutory limits of minimum liability insurance or an approved substitute method to compensate for injury or property damage they may bring about. Penalties are extremely harsh for nonconformity with this segment of the vehicle code. Comprehensive coverage (other than collision), uninsured motorist, medical payments, and collision insurance are not required by law but can be a good investment.