Stress can creep into your life without you even realizing it at first. One day you think everything is fine, and the next you’re suffering from a stress headache and the world seems a dismal place. Learning to manage your stress, and prevent it is the key to a fuller, happier life.
Reduce Caffeine
Many people drink coffee or tea in order to keep themselves alert during the day. What they don’t realize is that while caffeine does give you a high, it’s followed by a crash, which can leave you strung-out and can sap your energy. Chocolate and sugar do the same.
It’s hard to manage a stressful situation if you have no energy or are lethargic. Instead, rely on a good night’s sleep to keep yourself from feeling tired, and try to keep caffeine and sugar intake to a minimum.
Avoid Stress Whenever Possible
Stress can sometimes be unavoidable, but you can manage how much stress you’re under by avoiding stressful situations or people who cause you stress. For example, you may know or work with someone who constantly complains, which invariably causes you to stress out. This situation can be avoided or remedied. You can either tell them in a respectful but firm manner that you don’t want to listen to their complaints, or avoid them whenever possible.
If a particular TV show causes you stress, avoid watching it, and instead watch something that makes you feel good. Have a close look at what causes you stress, and avoid the things that do so.
Planning is Key
A lot of stress can be avoided with proper planning. You can keep a diary or a to-do list and work on it in order of priority. Being late, missing appointments and looming deadlines can all cause a lot of stress, but they can also be avoided by simple planning, too. Don’t let things sneak up on you. Instead, stay ahead of the game and plan ahead.
Exercise and Stay in Shape
Sometimes it’s tough to find the time to exercise. However, it’s an important element for stress management. Exercise helps relieve stress and pent-up anxiety. It also boosts confidence and energy levels, which are essential qualities for dealing with problems and getting things done. Ideally, you should be exercising at least 30 minutes per day.
Keep Thinking Positively
Positive thinking is the bane of stress. Approach every problem with an open and positive mind, and the solution will almost always come to you. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of your life, dwell on the positive.
Set Aside Time to Relax
Try to do something you enjoy every day. Whether that means taking an hour to wood work, read or toss the baseball in the back yard, the important thing is that you find time to do something you enjoy. This will help relax you, and you’ll enjoy life more.
Long-term stress can cause high blood pressure, loss of sleep and can play havoc with your social life. Don’t allow stress to be your master. Instead, master stress and learn how to cope, prevent and manage the stress in your life.
Once you’ve come up for an idea for an online business, the next step is marketing. Over the last few years, search engine optimization (S.E.O) has become a top priority with online businesses. They’ve figured out that the top search engines, such as Google and Yahoo use keywords to search out sites and rank them. As a result, these online businesses load their web sites up with keyword rich text, in the hopes that the search engines will rank their businesses higher than their competitors.
However, many of them forget about their clientele. By loading the site with keywords, they make their online content unbearable to read. The text is obviously loaded down with keywords, doesn’t flow well, and is boring to read, thus frightening off potential customers.
Here’s an example of boring keyword rich text: Lancing Ghostwriting Services is based in London, England. Lancing Ghostwriting Services have competitive rates and offer free quotes. Lancing Ghostwriting Services has been a premier provider of quality writing since 1985.
Boring right? Obviously, the keyword is the company name, which is important, but is it so important that it bores the reader and drives them from your site?
Here is an example of how you could optimize your web site, and still keep the content sounding less rigid: Based in London, England, Lancing Ghostwriting Services has been a premier provider of quality writing since 1985. We offer competitive rates, free quotes and are available any time of the day. At Lancing Ghostwriting services, the client is our #1 concern, and we always deliver on time.
As you can see from the example above, the text is far more free flowing and more interesting. If you were to read them both aloud, you’d quickly see that one sounds very rigid, and the other more natural. Instead of reading the text aloud, you could always have someone else read it to you, but the main point is, that by creating text that sounds sloppy and obviously unnatural, you run the risk of driving your customers away.
If you want to make your site interesting to the reader, and boost traffic, try writing text that doesn’t sound forced. Pretend that you’re writing an email to a best bud, and you’ll find as you’re writing, you’re more relaxed and the web content you create will reflect that.
Would you like to make some extra cash part-time from the comfort of your own home? Ever dreamed of quitting your full-time factory job, and making enough money at home that you never need to work for someone else again?
If this sounds like you, you might be in for a surprise. Thousands of people do it every day, and the only things you need to start are a computer, an Internet connection and self-discipline. It may come as a surprise to you, but thousands of people all over the world are looking for freelance writers to fill their web sites with quality content. And they're willing to pay well, for the right person.
So what makes you the right person for the job? How do you get started?
Find Your Niche
Everyone knows something. All you have to do is find a niche you enjoy writing about. For instance, perhaps you've been successfully married for 20 years, and have raised 4 children. This may sound unexciting at first glance, but I bet you know a lot about the ins and outs of child rearing, while keeping a family together. This kind of information is exactly the kind of content a lot of web sites are looking for.
You can use hobbies, interests or anything else you know a thing or two about, to build yourself a steady income from home. It's really that easy, if you know how to find the right buyer.
Finding The Right Buyer
Once you've found your niche, the next step is finding someone willing to buy your knowledge. This may seem like a daunting task at first, but it really isn't. There are many web sites out there that hook providers up with buyers. Some are free to use, and some require a fee.
My personal favorite is Elance. Within a month of joining this web site, I had eight buyers. I'd also been invited to bid on several more projects. Because you do have to pay in order to use this site, as well as pay a commission fee on completed projects, buyers know that you're not going to work for scraps.
The trick is to build a solid rating. This means whenever you get your first project, make sure the client is completely satisfied. Beat the deadline they set for you, give them a good price and make sure you provide quality content. Make sure you are professional at all times. If you can do this, then you can be a successful freelance writer.
Besides Elance, there are several more forums where jobs can be obtained. Get A Coder, Guru, Writer Lance and Get A Freelancer are all popular sites. Check them out, get a feel for what each can offer you before making your move.
Building A Reputation
When you're first starting out, you may need to take a few lower paying jobs in order to build a reputable portfolio. Just like any other job, you need to work your way up from the bottom. This means charging lower fees for your work, in return for a chance to write.
Once you've managed to rack up a few jobs, built yourself a good rating and gotten a bit more comfortable at your new part-time or full-time job, you can raise your fees. Once buyers know that other people have been satisfied with your work, they'll take more notice of you. This means more money for you, and less work finding the jobs.
This doesn't mean you can relax. You may get the jobs easier, but you still need to be professional in all aspects of your new business. Add to your rating and things will only get better. In time you will have a steady client base to work from, meaning repeat orders and more money in your pocket.
Conclusion
These three things are the basis for setting up your own successful freelance business. There are many other aspects, but that's the basics. With a little determination and practice at your new craft, you to could be a successful freelance writer.
(Jul 12, 2005) Published in The Cambridge Times newspaper
Many Canadians look at you as if your head has shrunk to the size of a pea, and your clothes are on backwards when they are told that the age of sexual consent in this country is 14.
Sixteen, some will argue. Others (generally the ones with kids who are either 14 or approaching that tender age) look nauseous.
How is it that young people can't smoke until they are 19, vote until 18, buy a lottery ticket until 18, drive until 16 or even drop out of high school until 16, but are deemed mature enough to engage in full sexual relations at the age of 14, providing that the adult they are having sex with doesn't hold a position of authority?
Does this make any sense to you?
As a parent of a daughter who is almost 12 years old myself, I can tell you this scares the hell out of me.
If she exercises her right to have sex at 14, then she could be having a baby just before reaching the age of 15.
In my opinion, she won't be mature enough or financially stable enough to raise a child.
The boy or man who impregnated her is probably not going to support the baby, so guess who that odious task is going to fall to?
Yes, you guessed it, me.
Either that, or she puts the baby up for adoption, aborts it, or she tries to raise the baby while being unequipped to raise herself.
None of those choices sounds particularly appealing to me.
If the last scenario doesn't scare you enough, there is also the fact that your baby girl or boy may be having sex with your 50-year-old neighbour right now and you, as a parent, would be powerless to stop it.
In fact, if you were to go over to that neighbour's house and remove your child, you could be charged with kidnapping.
On top of all of that, pedophiles from around the world have targeted Canada as a nation that will tolerate the exploitation of our youth.
Not only will we tolerate it, we have legalized it. Fourteen-year-olds are easily manipulated by wealthier, smarter, less naive adults and so make easy targets for sexual predators.
Why are we allowing this to happen? At first we fought back, but over time many Canadians have forgotten. In 1987, the Mulroney government lowered the age of sexual consent to 14. Since then, the Liberals have refused to raise the age of sexual consent to 16.
In 2002, more than 40,000 people sent a letter to Justice Minister Cauchon asking that the age of sexual consent be raised to 18.
The Canadian Police Association has requested the age be raised twice and in 1999, the Attorney General asked that the age of sexual consent be raised to 16 in order to combat the exploitation of our children.
Despite all of these efforts, the Canadian public has not been heard. Our kids are still being put at risk, and more and more children are having children.
It is the government's responsibility to protect our children from sexual predators and most of them are doing a terrible job of it.
As a Canadian citizen and a parent of two, I urge the public to make their voices heard on this subject. Write a letter to parliament and get in touch with your local MP and tell them how you feel.
I believe there is nothing more important than protecting our young people, don't you?
Over 40 million people in North America live with some form of Arthritis, and that number grows every day. In fact, I’m sure whoever is reading this article right now either has some form of arthritis, or knows someone who does.
Simply put, arthritis is an inflammation and swelling of the joints. A substance called cartilage surrounds your joints, and this cartilage acts as a buffer between bones, and allows you to move easily.
When this cartilage breaks down, your joints and bones have less of a buffer, and so they rub together, causing inflammation, swelling, and suffering.
If you’re experiencing joint pain, swelling, warmth or redness, you probably have arthritis.
Most arthritis sufferers feel their condition most keenly in the morning, or after they’ve been inactive for a lengthy period of time, because the affected joint has had time to sit and stiffen up.
Arthritis, while not being fatal, can be debilitating, and extremely painful. It can sap the enjoyment out of your life, and make small tasks seem like a burden.
The number one thing you can do to save yourself this pain in the future, is to practice prevention throughout your life.
Making sure that you are not over weight and putting undo stress on your weight bearing joints is essential to not having to experience arthritis in the future. It is also important to avoid repetitive movements over a long period of time. Instead, if you find yourself having to use repetitive movements, try to find time to take a break, stretch, and give your joints time to recuperate.
However, when you’re young, healthy and strong, arthritis is far from your mind. After all, you have much more important things to worry about, like deadlines to meet, parties to go to, and checking out the dating scene.
It’s only when you’re older that the wear and tear on your joints becomes noticeable, and suddenly you are one of the 40 million people who have arthritis.
What can be done about it? What are some of the things you can do, without taking medication, to relieve the pain of arthritis?
These are important questions, and I will endeavor to answer them in this article.
Within the next few moments, you will learn of the top 10 ways you can beat arthritis pain, and still enjoy a happy, active lifestyle.
1) Lose any excess pounds: Any extra weight you lug around will only make your joints work harder. You want to minimize any strain you have to put on your arthritic joints, and the simplest, and best way to do this, is by shedding those extra pounds.
2) Exercise: Not only will this help you shed, and maintain your weight, it also helps to keep your joints mobile, and improve joint mobility.
I suggest joining a yoga class, or Tai Chi class to work on flexibility, and doing some light aerobic exercises, coupled with weight training, will do wonders for your arthritis, as well as your muscle strength and endurance.
The stronger and fitter you are, the less your joints have to work to move you around.
3) Get the proper amount of sleep: Arthritis has a tendency to flare up when you’re least expecting it, and a good night sleep (at least 8 hours) can do wonders for recovering from the pain. If you can fit it into your schedule, taking a brief afternoon nap could also benefit you.
4) Eat Cherries: Yes, you read right! New research shows that cherries contain anti-oxidants, and inflammatory properties, that may help with the swelling associated with arthritis.
5) Take glucosamine and chondroiten on a regular basis: Glucosamine and chondroiten can be found in your nearest health food store, and are the building blocks of cartilage. Your body produces it naturally, but taking a daily supplement will give your body some extra fuel to heal any damaged cartilage.
6) Invest in a paraffin spa: Parraffin spas are handy machines that heat wax up to a therapeutic temperature, and keep it that way. Bathing your arthritic joints in the warm wax, will probably give you pain relief for hours to come.
7) Include Omega-3 and extra virgin olive oil to your diet: Both Omega-3 and virgin olive oil will help alleviate inflammation in arthritic joints. Include them in your cooking whenever possible.
8) Enjoy a rosemary and eucalyptus bath: Adding 5 drops of these essential oils to your bathwater will help the swelling that is associated with arthritis. Plus, it’s an excuse to take a well-deserved time-out, and enjoy a nice, warm bath.
9) Ginger and turmeric: Both help to fight inflammation, and besides that, they’re delicious! Use them in your cooking whenever possible.
10) Bring on the cold: By applying a bag of peas, an ice pack, or ice wrapped in a towel to the swollen joint, you can reduce the swelling, and thus the pain.
While there is no known cure for arthritis, it is still possible to fight the disease, and lessen its effects.
If you suspect that you may have arthritis, it’s important that you consult your family physician as soon as possible.
By using one, or all of the tips mentioned above, you will see that having arthritis doesn’t mean you have to put your life on hold. It’s still possible to live life to the fullest, and enjoy doing so.
MSN is the third most preferred search engine, and has a thirty percent market share. With three hundred user’s world wide, it is one of the fastest growing search engines. Optimizing your website so that you appear on the first page of the search results that relate to your site is very important.
The first step you should take to achieve this goal is to look into Meta Tags. MSN has openly admitted that their MSN bots will actively seek out Meta tags, for its website analyses. Some search engines frown on Meta Tags, but not MSN.
Meta tags are simply HTML script loaded with keywords. The viewer of the page can’t see them, but the MSN Bot will read the keywords and incorporate the keywords into their search engine.
Next you want to load your front page with keywords. This includes the title of the site, and any description of the site as well. MSN bots will not pick up script that is placed within a graphic, so make sure that all of your writing is regular text.
MSN has also put out a warning that no pages should be over 150K in size. Its not known weather the Bot just stops reading after 150K, or not, but if you want to be included in MSN’s top searches, then you should heed the warning.
You should also submit your site for inclusion in their search engine. This process is free, and only takes a few minutes.
Linking is important when optimizing your site. MSN has said that links should not be any more than three deep from the index page. This means that your links shouldn’t be any more than three clicks away from your main page. This may be difficult for larger web sites to do, but if you want your site to be rated high on the MSN search engine, its wise to follow this guideline.
It’s also a good idea to hire an SEO professional. These people are paid to know search engines, and can help you to greatly improve your websites rating with the larger search engines such as MSN.
Don’t just think of your website as a mere tool, but like an important part of your company. No other medium can reach out to the public like the Internet can.
Learning to optimize your site is an important step towards making your site accessible to the millions of customers around the world that want what you are selling. Don’t become lost in the jungle that is the Internet.
Son Restores Christmas Spirit By MICHAEL MOORE, Guest Column
Dec 18, 2007
http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/news/article/110782
I have to admit, Christmas for me has lost its glitter. I feel it's now mostly about retail sales and keeping our economy running smoothly. It seems to me that a lot of times, it's about greed and not about family.
It also means stress. Stress about fitting the shopping in and finding the money to shop at all. My wife and I aren't rich. We have three kids and sometimes it's tough to get by as it is without having to buy a bunch of gifts for everyone else.
However, our 11-year-old son proved me wrong this weekend. Not only proved me wrong, but rekindled the Christmas spirit that was sadly waning in me. I've never been as proud of him as I was on Saturday when he asked me for the money I was going to spend on him for Christmas gifts and then turned around and bought a bunch of presents for less fortunate children, and dropped them off himself at a Santa's Anonymous drop box.
He told me that he'd get lots of presents from grandmas and grandpas, from friends, aunts, uncles and Santa, but that many kids would wake up and have nothing underneath the tree.
I marvelled at his maturity and kindness, and now, because of him, the Santa's Anonymous drop box has five new bags of toys and a few less fortunate kids will have something to smile about on Christmas morning.
I love my son dearly, and normally I think of it as my job to teach him the lessons of life, but in this case, it was the other way around.
He taught me that Christmas is about giving, and that giving and generosity has its own rewards. He taught me that while I look at the cynical side of Christmas, there are some who see the joy, good will and charity that can come of the season as well.
Christmas isn't about how many presents you can cram under your tree. It isn't even about how much money you spend on each relative or friend, but about family, and putting a smile on someone else's face, even if you never get to see that person. It's about being thankful for the things we have and sharing that bounty with others.
For me this year, it's also about one little 11-year-old boy, who thought more about other people who have less than he does, before he thought of himself. It's about the smile and pride he wore on his face as he placed each bag of presents into that Santa's Anonymous drop box.
I also wanted to say, 'thank you son. You've made me extremely proud'.
