Posts made in August, 2008

The Power of Meditation

Posted by admin on Aug 17, 2008 in happiness | 0 comments

About a month ago I decided to meditate. I wanted to go deep inside my conscience and feel my inner peace. I watched a YouTube how to meditate video, grabbed my yoga mat and found a quiet, dark place in our basement to do my thing. Relaxed, I repeated the mantra “Ham-sa” (Who am I?).

After awhile my body started to feel electric. As if a current was charging around it. I swayed to my breathing and felt an amazing energy. My head was clear and my heart was warm. After wards everything had a magical feel to it. Music was sensational, friends who came for dinner were the coolest ever, everything was calm.

For the next couple weeks I tried to get back into that cool, electric groove, but just couldn’t do it. Two people decided to camp out in my head and both were battling for attention…”Mr. What-if” and “Ms. Diva”. Mr What-if wanted to discuss all the worse possible scenarios for every event in my life. And Ms Diva wanted to go on and on about how justified I am. Neither one would shut up.

This went on for a couple of weeks. Then one day out running with my two new friends yacking a hundred miles per hour, I calmly said, “Ok you two. Settle down. You’re just my ego talking. Hush now.” But they completely ignored me and carried on with the same boring conversation we’ve been having for days. Then I lost it. I just started screaming (in my head of course), “Stop it now or else I’m just going to have to cut you off! Shut up right now or that’s the end of it! I’ve had enough and am not going any further. I mean it!” Miraculously, it worked. They shut up. Mr What-if & Ms Diva finally gave it a rest. Mind you, they’re still with me now, but hardly say a word.

Since then I’ve been happily meditating a few times a week and it has an amazing effect on life. We all know about how it reduces stress and improves health. This is true. But more so, mediation awakens a deep creativity and helps you discover your purpose in life. I suggest to just try it for awhile. It might just answer your “Ham-sa” question.

Easy and Delicious Strawberry Sorbet

Posted by admin on Aug 10, 2008 in health | 0 comments

I came across a gorgeous tub of strawberry sorbet in the supermarket going for $5.99 for a wee little container. I figured I could spend that on berries and make a bucket of it myself.

I read a hundred different recipes and came up with one of my own. It was so easy to make. And perfect for a hot summer day. Let me know how your sorbet turns out!

Low Fat and Yummy Strawberry Sorbet

1 container of strawberries sliced.
Splash of Vodka
Splash of Vermouth
1/4 C Water
Sweetener

Slice and freeze the strawberries in a sealed plastic container. After a few hours, blend the berries in an electric blender with vodka, vermouth and some water. Add sweetener to your liking (I used two spoonfuls). Serve with whipped topping.

Other Variations

Use honey instead of sweetener
Use watermelon instead of sweetener. Reduce the amount of water.
Use any other type of fruit instead of strawberries

Rich Dad Poor Dad Workshop

Posted by admin on Aug 5, 2008 in wealth | 8 comments

Last night I attended a free workshop Learn to be Rich. It’s part of Robert Kiyosaki’s “get rich” empire. I just finished his book Rich Dad Poor Dad and happen to be on their mailing list, so I decided to check it out. What I discovered was quite fascinating.

About 50 people showed up for this free two hour event. A sharply dressed man was the MC and introduced a lovely young lady, Jessie Connor, a former Apprentice contestant. She showed pictures of her with celebrities like Regis and Katie Couric (to build credibility) then one of a worn down shack — that’s where she grew up.

She told us her rags to riches story and credited her success to investing in a three day Rich Dad course where she learned everything she needed to get wealthy from real estate. You see where this is going. She was pushing this course. “Sign up today and you get half off PLUS we’ll throw in a ton of extra stuff.” The cost – $495 for two people. Not bad.

Right away a lady stood up and registered for the class as our host Jessie encouraged others to follow. “Limited spots available!” I want to believe that lady genuinely felt a calling rather than the Rich Dad folks picked her off the street and paid her (she looked rather rough).

Then she gave us a taste of what we would learn in the course. If any of you have been to the course or any like it, I’d love to hear from you. Or if you have further insight about these topics, let me know. Here’s what she had to say.

During a foreclosure, there are three stages of opportunity:

1. (Before) Pre-forclosure. Using Craigslist, she puts an ad “If you know you won’t make your next payment, call me.” Then she does a Sandwich Lease to Own. The link does a better job explaining this than I ever could.
2. (During) Auction. She doesn’t like this method because there’s too many details. So she didn’t get into it much.
3. (After) REO. This is Real Estate Owned (aka owned by the bank). For each house, the bank must have 8X the delinquent loan in reserve. Hence why so many banks are tanking right now. So they’re desperate to unload these properties and will do it at a bargain.

She also talked about:

• Using lenders money to fix the joint.
• Something about 3 month rehab and secondary markets. I didn’t really catch it.
• Tax Liens and buying them at auctions (but she didn’t say how).
• Wholesaling is a great way to rehab (buy-fix-rent). There’s no money down, you use options and there’s earned income ($5 – 10K each).

I’d love to learn more about this, but didn’t have it in me to hand over $495, although some of it was intriguing. We all know the housing market is “half off” at the moment, so now is the time to buy. Maybe I’ll catch the Get Rich folks the next time they’re in town and I’ll be the first person in the audience to sign up. Maybe.

In the Defense of Food

Posted by admin on Aug 4, 2008 in health | 0 comments

If you want to be enlightened about what you’re eating and its effects, I suggest you pick up “In the Defense of Food” by Micheal Pollen. In it, he discusses how most of what we’re eating is not food but “edible foodlike substances” – freaks of nature food science packaged in “good for you!” labels. This “food” has lead to an increase in heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Why is it the more we concern ourselves with nutrition, the less healthy we become?

Some Interesting Facts

• In 1960 Americans spent 17.5% of their income on food and 5.2% on health care. Now we spend 9.9% on food and 16% on health care. Hmmm…
• We now have to eat 3 apples to get the same amount of iron as you would have gotten from a single 1940 apple.
• The body is starved of critical nutrients so it will keep eating in hope of obtaining them.
• For the first time in history, we have people who are overfed and undernourished.
• In America, nearly a fifth of all eating takes place in the car.

Some of Pollen’s Advice

• Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.
• Avoid food products with ingredients that are A) unfamiliar, B) unpronounceable, C) more than five in number, or D) include high-fructose corn syrup.
• Avoid food that makes health claims.
• Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
• Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
• Pay more, eat less.
• Eat meals.
• Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.

This book is filled with amazing insight and great advice. Pick up a copy and then be sure to visit your local farmers market for some whole food! Bon appetit!

The Girl Effect

Posted by admin on Aug 3, 2008 in wealth | 0 comments

Colin’s birthday was a month ago and he insisted “no gifts!”, so I decided to give his present to two girls in Africa instead. I had just came across this video and was so moved I instantly selected one of their charities. We gave two girls in Uganda some chickens so they could have eggs and later raise more chickens.

The cool thing is that I received an email from the folks from The Girl Effect last week with an update. They’ve held the town meetings, set up times to kick in the chicken loans and the ladies will be in full business very soon.

You have to give to receive. It’s part of the law of attraction and karma. So if you would like to start giving, I highly recommend The Girl Effect. I’d also love to hear all about it when you do!