Just recently my boys Phil and Hasan picked up some exclusive souvenirs from over in Hawaii. So I decided to post them and share them with the world...About Celebration Pipes:Celebration Pipes were first created on Laie Point , North Shore Oahu, in the winter of 1973 as the legendary island waves thundered into the lava tubes running under our lanai studio. The Sunshine Festival in Diamondhead Crater was only a couple of weeks away on January 1, 1974, and I was behind on my Christmas gift list. We had created over 250 handmade K-POI radio coffee mugs for the stations' owner, Tom Moffatt. Tom Moffatt productions brought Elvis to Hawaii in the 1960's and just kept bringing the best talent and performers in the world to the paradise called HAWAII.
The Sunshine Festival was an annual all day extravaganza on New Years day that seemed to get 10's of thousands of rock and roll fans off to a good start each New Year. Lots of music, dance, and good times had for all inside a dormant VOLCANO in the middle of an island, in the middle of the ocean. So besides the dozens of handmade ceramic mugs, bowls, plates and toothbrush holders that were to this time the normal stock in trade for our home ceramic business , a new item, a handmade, lavastoneware, 22kt GOLD PLATED pipe was offered to the public for the first time.Purchase: Celebration Pipes Writer: L
“Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” – Senator Robert F. Kennedy
The working of the human mind naturally lends itself to metaphor as in: the playground of the mind, the battlefield of the mind, the mind as a prison. What all these allusions depend upon is framing – the mind’s natural process of capturing an idea and using it to define and focus your attention on whatever is within its scope.
Framing is the process that truly confirms the Biblical statement: “As a man thinketh in his heart [Hebrew for mind] so is he.” If you think of your mind as a playground for ideas – it will be. If you think of it as a prison – it will be.
For some people their thinking does seem to imprison them through the spiraling of their negative thoughts; it brings ceaseless unrest.
What they need is a way to break out of that cycle to create mental freedom.
So what can help? Enter the two words: “What…if…”
Do not scoff at these little incantations – they are not magic in the Harry Potter sense – but given what they can do the results can seem magical. They can help you step back, step up and step out of a limiting way of thinking.
You have probably heard about the power of acting “as-if”. It seems so trite on paper and I think many people give up on the process because when they try ‘faking it’ the original behavior is so strongly engrained that they strain against it – and fall back.
But these two words can act to open up a new world of thinking and I’m going to tell you how.
So let’s say you want to start thinking more positively and you feel you can’t.
In Neuro-Linguistic Programming the challenge to ‘I can’t’ is usually: ‘What if you could?” Pick something that is possible in the world but doesn’t seem possible for you and ask yourself: “What if I could?” You need to be prepared to push yourself but what the question does is challenge your brain to find a way to make the transition work.
- What if you could learn passionately and quickly?
- What if you could do mathematics? What would open up for you then?
- What if you were totally wrong about the sheer amount of potential you have?
- What if you did resist smoking for a week and saved yourself £10? What then?
If no answer comes, ask again, and again. Yes, forcing it can work in this situation.
Several things can and will happen after this point. At the least you’ll start to create the possibility in your mind. Yes, you might fall back and say “well, that would be great but I’m just pretending.”
Understand that actually you are not pretending (in a physiological sense.
Neurologists have said that the same neural pathways are used to pretend as to do. That is why Korean War veterans came out of five years internment better golfers than they went in – by using mental rehearsal.
The resistance you experience is likely to be a higher frame like ‘it’s just pretending’ and you’ll need to deal with that. In fact, ask “What if pretending actually caused me to make a seismic shift in my thinking and suddenly I found myself starting to demonstrate those behaviors in everyday life?”
You may find a little loosening feeling but still feel you have further to advance. This is fine, merely question yourself as to what is stopping you, and ask “What if…[you had overcome it].
You can then start getting a little adventurous by presupposing what you want to happen has happened. This technique regularly opens up new mental horizon for me.
- What if I suddenly stopped feeling fear about taking aggressive action on my dreams?
- What if I was able to love others regardless of their behavior?
- What if I woke up tomorrow morning willing and able to change any belief?
What if, when I went to bed tonight a miracle occurred and when I woke up I had suddenly developed a learning state of mind that enabled me to take in and use information quickly and easily? What would be the first thing that would let me know this was the case?
This is the next level of pretending. Trainers often use two chairs for this – one for the ‘night before’ and one for ‘after the miracle’.
It seems so simple but often, just doing this causes a shift in thinking when you mind recognizes a more desirable state of affairs.
Asking ‘what if’ can open up new therapeutic and generative personal worlds. It has the power to heal and create.
- What if I truly was significant?
- What if I counted in this world?
- What if my learning state enabled me to take that masters in 2 years instead of 3?
- What if I woke up tomorrow morning and was able to recognize the positive intention behind the behavior and work with that instead of getting annoyed at what’s in front of me.
You may wonder if this will work for you. I ask you to consider: What if it did? What if it could? What if it does?
Try it, and find out.
Writer: Douglas Cartwright
Latest single from Jeezy’s upcoming Thug Motivation 103 album featuring a fresh out of jail T.I. with production from the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. A new release date for TM103 will be announced on Monday.
Have you ever dreamt of living in the most luxurious hotel on your many exotic travels? Or have you ever tried to guess how high your favorite hotel is ranked in opulence? Well, Luxury-Hotels.com, is here to answer some of your questions through a recently conducted survey that lists the most expensive hotels in the world. And here are the top ten places based on average rates of a standard double room between June and August 2011. All set to plan our vacation, are we?
10. At the base of the list is the Gora Kadan, located at Gora, Japan. The hotel charges $1,459 for each night of stay.
9. On number nine is the Saffire Freycinet that is situated at Cole’s Bay, Australia. Be prepared to fork out $1,576 per night of stay here.
8. At number 8 is the $2,106 per night room at the Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, at the stunning location of Maldives.
7. Closing in at 7 is the La Réserve, at Ramatuelle, France. A room here costs $2,112 per night.
6. Ranked 6th is the Italian Hotel Romazzino, located at Porto Cervo, Italy costing $2,115 per night for a room.
5. Starting the top 5 is the Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa at Lithgow again in Australia. The spa lets you have a room at $2,119 per night.
4. At the 4th spot is yet another Italian hotel, this time the Hotel Cala di Volpe, Porto Cervo that is priced at $2,286 per night.
3. Rounding up the top 3 is the Moroccan hotel from Marrakech called Royal Mansour that will cost you a staggering $2,327 per night.
2. Closing in at number two is, another Porto Cervo, Italian, place called Hotel Pitrizza priced at $2,335 per night.
1. And bagging top honors here is....drum roll please... the Maia Luxury Resort & Spa on Anse Louis, on the stunning island country of Seychelles. Be prepared to shell out $2,455 per night. But then again every penny spent on a well deserved holiday is worth your time, right?
“Buy Now, Pay Later!”
This is a huge money myth that seems true, because it is so big and pervasive. The real truth about this belief system is that it is designed to create perpetual consumers! The truth is really pay now and pay later. First you pay by subtly extending your indentured servanthood another three years, five years, or in the case of a mortgage, 30 years.
The same competitive system that is most likely your employer is part of the same competitive system that loans you the money to buy the house. The banking system loans you the money as long as you stay on the job (you have to show them your W-2, right), and “the job” keeps you in the workforce, and by keeping you in the workforce the banking industry gets to make the interest. You actually end up paying now, and paying later.
Do you ever own the home? Maybe, but then there are property taxes to pay that are ever increasing, and they are never paid off. So now you are working for the bank, the labor market, and the government. You are paying, paying, paying, and you are investing in someone else’s bottom line. With buy-now,-pay-later credit cards the interest rate is often more than the original purchase. With a car purchase, you pay hundreds of dollars a month for years in interest and additional car insurance. Once the car gets paid off in say, five years, the car wears out and you have to buy a new one. So you never own it, you are paying now and paying later. The truth it is quite rare that anyone ever gets around to really buying and truly owning!
SOLUTION: Be your own bank.
This is as simple as saving up and buying with cash. One small example: I bought my last car with cash. Granted, it was seven years old, but it was a luxury vehicle with only one owner in immaculate condition. I saved $225 a month in car insurance and in interest. That money (not a business loan) has been invested in my writing business because that is $225 that I do not have to earn each month, adding up to $2,700 a year back in my pocket. This is the equivalent of $13,500 over five years that I have been driving the car. In fact, it is effectively more than that, because to clear that $225, I would have to make $400 to cover taxes, gas, commute time, lunches, dry cleaning, and other expenses of going to work to earn that amount. Assuming I would make about $15/hr in the “job market,” I therefore freed up 30 hours a month (assuming I invest the time freed up as opposed to spending the extra $4,800 per year) to invest in my writing business. This is because I banked the money to buy my automobile with cash. So as my own banker, I have invested $24,000 into my small online businesses without having to borrow that money, pay interest on it, or pay it back. Be your own bank.
People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supercedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement.
Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:
1. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect – If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise.The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now.
2. Be a doer - Practice doing things rather than thinking about them. Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today. The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. After a few days the details gets hazy. After a week it’s forgotten completely. By becoming a doer you’ll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.
3. Remember that ideas alone don’t bring success – Ideas are important, but they’re only valuable after they’ve been implemented. One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”. If you have an idea the you really believe in, do something about it. Unless you take action it will never go anywhere.
4. Use action to cure fear – Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak? Even professional speakers and actors experience pre-performance anxiety. Once they get started the fear disappears. Action is the best cure for fear. The most difficult time to take action is the very first time. After the ball is rolling, you’ll build confidence and things will keep getting easier. Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.
5. Start your creative engine mechanically – One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes. If you wait for inspiration to slap you in the face, your work sessions will be few and far between. Instead of waiting, start your creative motor mechanically. If you need to write something, force yourself to sit down and write. Put pen to paper. Brainstorm. Doodle. By moving your hands you’ll stimulate the flow of ideas and inspire yourself.
6. Live in the present - Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don’t worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be able to do tomorrow. The only time you can affect is the present. If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won’t get anything done. Tomorrow or next week frequently turns into never.
7. Get down to business immediately – It’s common practice for people to socialize and make small talk at the beginning of meetings. The same is true for individual workers. How often do you check email or RSS feeds before doing any real work? These distractions will cost you serious time if you don’t bypass them and get down to business immediately. By becoming someone who gets to the point you’ll be more productive and people will look to you as a leader.
It takes courage to take action without instructions from the person in charge. Perhaps that’s why initiative is a rare quality that’s coveted by managers and executives everywhere. Seize the initiative. When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. Once people see you’re serious about getting things done they’ll want to join in. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.
T.I. drops his first verse since being released from prison. Here he hops on Future’s ‘Magic’ for the remix.
Rick Ross is back with a smooth record feat Wale and K.C. This record is sure to put you in the mood to drop the top on the coupe and cruise.
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