You've Got Mail!

By Amy Price PhD

Email can be a gift that allows you to communicate across continents, collaborate on projects, keep in touch with loved ones and make friends from all over the globe. It is also a two edged sword with a blade that just doesn't cut it.

I am usually diplomatic, tech savvy and have even done years of Post Graduate training online. Occasionally things just go wrong and something you write or recieve is taken out of context or misunderstood and suddenly there can be a negative spiral there is no digging out of.

I used to play the game and send the reply to all, explain, justify or crawl. Not anymore after two negative exchanges I meet face to face or pick up the low tech telephone and I call and talk things through. Those who don't 'have time' are not worth wasting my life on and with a quick mental next please, I move on!

I used to think I was obligated to the communication medium chosen by the one who initiated the communication but not anymore. I learned from friends high up in national security that they are instructed to pick up the phone or pay a visit after the second negative email response. This makes sense as email is never truly listening, it is forced talking from your own perspective one person at a time or in the reply all situation it can be like gang warfare!

Surveys report that 95% of us get at least one misunderstood email a week that causes future issues. Perhaps it is time to recognise that people need eye contact, touch and even smell to be at their best as communicators. A huge amount of communication is non verbal and words just establish what is already understood. We pick up cues from each other and our surroundings. With emails we miss the neurotransmitter connections and the hormones like oxytocin that lead conversation to be a pleasurable experience. We miss out on smiles that crinkle up to the eyes or real laughter and loyalty between friends. We can't even say I don't want to talk about this right now because there it is...all over the page expecting a response

I recently had my personal email account hacked by a group I had known for years. The emotion I felt paralysed me, I felt more afraid and violated than when I was confronted with firebombs and my life threatened on the mission field, at least there the enemy identified themselves upfront! No email security is 100%. Put nothing in an email that you could not live with if it showed up on the local news!

So to recap...email is a tool it is not your master. You can choose the response and the medium. Loving people is the best use of our time and it is never wasted!

The Power of Intention

This is a guest Post from The Best Daughter in The World

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."- Napoleon Hill: Author, Think and Grow Rich.
Posted by Kathleen

“You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” ~ Upanishads

Intention is the starting point of every spiritual path. It is the force that fulfills all of our needs, whether for money, relationships, spiritual awakening, or love. Intention generates all the activities in the universe. Everything that we can see – and even the things we cannot – are an expression of intention’s infinite organizing power.As the ancient Indian sages observed thousands of years ago, our destiny is shaped by the deepest level of our intention and desire. Once we plant the seed of an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, our soul’s journey unfolds automatically, as naturally as a bulb becomes a tulip or an embryo becomes a child.

Who Says You Can't?

This entry is contributed by Rev. John Horton who is also a world class photographer.

There's an old Air Force saying, "The difficult we do first, the impossible takes us a little longer."

This young lady never listened to those who said, "Oh, you can't do that." Thank goodness she and her mother had the faith.

An amazing story from Korea . Hee Ah Lee was born with several physical deformities. She only had two fingers on each hand. And her legs ended at her knees. Her doctors didn't expect her to live. But she did live. At the age of six she started to play piano. At the time, her four fingers were very weak. She couldn't even hold a pencil. Her mother hoped playing piano would strengthen her grip.It worked. But more than that, Lee found a calling. She now tours the world, playing for stunned audiences. She plays pieces that would be difficult for able-bodied pianists. You'll love hearing her play. Click on her picture above to hear

Dress to Kill

We live in a world where body schema is determined by advertising whims. Women wear high heels for a temporary slimming, bottom lifting and calf tightening effect at the expense of freedom of movement and longterm health of the feet and legs. We put on nylons that make us freeze in the winter and smell in the summer...but someone called them 'appropriate' and we dutifully pull them on like sausages waiting for their casings. We value 'rocks' in the form of rings like the predessors of cavemen and see them as forms of approval and the bestowing of favor. We spend money on wrinkles no one cares about and forget that inside the package is the most precious gift of all..yourself. Nevertheless we live in a world where convention delivers financial comfort and even we are influenced by what we compare ourselves too...

What you see affects what you believe about yourself. It also influences how others perceive you. Make the best of what you have. Most of the commercial world is airbrushed so look at people rather than magazines find a personal style and celebrate it. Remember that true beauty comes from the inside out but it doesn’t hurt to market what you have got. Be yourself…no one else can do it better!

Motivation from the inside out

USA today reported that happy people live 17% longer. Laughter and humor is associated with better health mental and physical, more efficient learning and better choices. Most people in the city will influence 50 people on the way to work. This can have a knock on effect. Atmosphere matters, you have the power to create atmosphere and influence destiny. Think about the power you have rather than what has been taken from you. The way you think can deliver keys to your destiny.



Some reasons why include the way neurotransmitters in our brains work. Your brain was programmed to produce happy chemicals. Drugs sex and rock n roll are a poor and temporary
substitute.

Communication and Cognition (tips and tricks)

Information is available at faster rates than ever before. Ray Kurzweil references something he calls the law of accelerating returns. This means that information is increasing to the power of rather than by simple addition or multiplication. Even with all the new information available people take in about the same information every day as they did at the turn of the century.


What kind of person do you listen to and why? To communicate effectively become that kind of person. A good book for improving relationships and making your voice heard is Non Violent Communication by Dr Marshall Rosenberg. Dr Rosenberg is an international specialist in conflict resolution. I try to apply his principles in my work with people, often when I don’t, I wish I had….There is a lot of free information on his web site Center For Non-violent Communication, he also has DVDs available.


Got trouble keeping up? Are you overloaded with information? Visit http://sparksofgenius.com for tips and tricks to restore memory and improve mental function. Cognition can be improved by brain gyms, bio/neuro-feedback, exercise, diet, memory strategies, meditation and getting enough sleep

How can we nurture seeds of success?

Help someone else get where they want to go

Do something today to bring your dream to pass

Remember "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear"…get ready


Champions start on time…if you are late figure out why and fix it. In my case I have been known to drag my feet when I do not want to show up…sometimes it is important to just say no