Valentine’s Day Ideas

It is that time of the year again when lovers across the globe scramble for Valentines Day ideas for gifts and activities to woo their loved ones. Love and romance are like a plant, they tend to wither and die if left untended. So it is important to keep refreshing the relationship by the words and actions that we share with our partners.

Valentine’s Day is a tradition and it comes every 14th February. The tradition’s origins are variedly explained depending on where one comes from. According to Wikipedia, it is a Christian celebration in memory of a martyr named Valentinus who before his execution for performing forbidden marriages, wrote a letter to his jailer’s daughter and signed it, “Your Valentine”. There are however several other versions of saints bearing the same name,  ”Saint Valentine”. The day is however celebrated all over the world signifying love.

Regardless of its origins, it is wisdom for someone in a relationship to make an effort to make their partner feel loved, appreciated and special. It can only come back to you, so there are many benefits. At this time; love notes, cards, flowers, teddy bears, poems and gifts, all with a red romantic theme are exchanged.  Yet it is not uncommon to find yourself struggling and tearing your hair for some fresh hot Valentines Day ideas that will excite and impress your partner. Some believe that it is the men who should be showering the ladies with gifts and initiating activities and yet others say that it is the ladies turn every leap year.

Whichever way it goes, it is important to always be prepared so that when it’s your turn, you know what to do. Hence, it is also important to keep looking for new Valentine’s Day ideas and these can be found in many places including online. There are books, videos and articles that address this issue. Of particular interest is an e-book I found that is now available online for instant download. It is entitled, “Valentine’s Day Magic” and it is full of fresh ideas. Grab this e-book now! It comes with resell rights, that is, you can re-sell it also if you like.

If you have done everything else from dinners, to gifts, to flowers and are at a loss as to what to do next, then I recommend that you checkout this e-book: Valentine’s Day Magic. You will get valuable and fresh Valentines Day ideas that will put you ahead of the game, plus you will be able to impress your loved one.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

They say if you believe it and you say it out loud, then so will
it be. Yes, the power of words is so amazing. For some time now I have been weary of writing anything-short of words and could not get myself to hold that pen or hit the keypad of my laptop. I just couldn’t, period.


Did I even know what was going on? No. But did I even care? Yes.
It bothered me a lot why I was going about numb like a zombie-as if sedated or stone dead! I did not have any motivation at all and it’s been 3 months. Not to say it didn’t bother me. Oh God it did but I just didn’t have the energy to  address the issue.


Then one day, I got inspiration after an unusual dream. When I woke up I had this conviction that if I prayed with enough faith, this block would shift. So I did just that. I went down on my knees and talked to my creator about my plight and needs-and so here I am. Just finished this piece! 

Thank you Master!

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Here I am talking about releasing yourself from social constraints. My online Thesaurus describes the word liberate as “to set somebody free from traditional socially imposed constraints such as those arising from stereotyping by gender or age.” As we traverse through life from birth to death,  we come across people, events and norms that bind us or shackle us. Most of the  time it is not easy for one to know they are bound until an outside event
triggers an awakening at soul level. It is at this time that one starts
questioning the status quo but also risks being labeled a rebel or misfit. Thus  one needs to understand the liberation
process and carefully manage it for success. I will give a few
instances where you might need to set yourself  free.


Liberating yourself from childhood  traumas

 If you are a woman, you could have been brought up under a strict cultural environment where a girl child has to conform to certain norms within society. For example, the idea that women are inferior to men and so they have to be submissive. Most women have problems speaking out or taking up leadership
positions in business as they view themselves as not  being capable of challenging their male colleagues. There is also another trauma where girls are supposed to do most of the household chores and conform to the norm
that “a woman’s place is in the kitchen.” These societal constraints from  childhood continue to haunt women as
  adults.


However, as more and more women get educated and mix and mingle with other cultures, they are awakened to the fact that human beings are created equal and so have equal rights. The only species that need to be dominated are the animal and plant kingdoms. It is at such times that an individual needs to realize the power of love. Loving yourself fully opens the door to more discoveries and abundance. But how can one love and accept their inadequate self. A gap exists between what they are accustomed to and the new beliefs.This is where the idea of forgiving yourself plays an important role. Also forgive those that have put you in bondage. It could be your ancestors, parents or society. Acknowledge the fact that as an individual you deserve equal  opportunities and love. So begin by empowering yourself through forgiving yourself. Then you can forgive the rest. Self-hate and carrying grudges only serves to keep you bound to the past. You need to put the burden down and create
room for self-discovery.


Liberating yourself from parental  control


Whether male or female, you could be subject to parental control even as an adult. The idea was for parents to be responsible for their children’s welfare up to a certain age. This is why there are some milestones in one’s life such as early childhood, teenage, young adult, full adult etc. and these are marked by age groups. I believe that when a child reaches adulthood, it is time for parents to let go but this might not happen naturally. Thus there are instances of adults who are bound and controlled by one or both parents. In African tradition, a child will always be a child into old age. Alternatively, women will always be minors. Hence, these people will always consult with and get approval from their parents before making any major decisions.


 Another subtle form of bondage is the traditional belief that a child is indebted to the parents who would have sacrificed to provide for the child. So the expectation is that the child should pay back in gratitude to the parents. However, this societal constraint limits the individual’s ability to progress in life as they are forever paying a non-ending debt. It is this socially imposed belief that results in the battle between in-laws. Mother’s in law want to perpetuate control of their sons and meddle in their marriages by demanding large sums of money as compensation for the trouble they went through. Some parents demand certain ongoing responsibilities from their children to ensure that they are well provided into old age. Regardless of the child’s performance in life, this
obligation remains intact and can choke the life out of the individual who has to keep up with their peers while at the same time keeping up with parental demands.


Removing parental control can be  a stubborn form of bondage as one risks being considered rebellious, outcast and in some cultures it is taboo to speak out, especially against your mother. Traditionally, some retribution comes with such an act. It is therefore crucial that when awakened to the existence of such control one takes time to acknowledge the problem. Without acknowledging the problem, fear of retribution can act as another set of chains. After acknowledging the problem, one needs to discuss with other people who might or might not be facing such challenges. This helps to put perspective to the issue and bring more understanding. Some form of prayer also helps strengthen one’s inner resolve and to dissolve the fear. One needs to acknowledge connection to source/God that is the creator. When this realization comes about, it is easy to see objectively the role played by parents. This brings further realization that one does not need to do anything beyond what they afford their creator, for their parents are simply co-creators under instruction. Once the assignment is complete, there should be no further obligation. As God has granted us free will and we choose what we want to do with him, the same is applied to parents.One should not feel obliged beyond their free will. However, when one is bound, they feel more obligated toward parents instead of God/Creator/Source.


Therefore, in all cases where you have decided to liberate yourself, one needs to apply these principles:
 ·        
1. acknowledge the existence of a problem
 ·        
2. forgive yourself and those that have contributed to your bondage
 ·        
3. talk to other people
 ·        
4. pray/meditate over the issue and what you need to  do
 ·        
5. make a decision to love yourself and change things
 ·        
6. exercise your God given right of free will
 
This article is a result of personal experiences and the tools applied  to overcome the problem of bondage. Please feel free to comment, share or to  receive more inspiring articles, SUBSCRIBE to my mailing  list.

At a recent wedding, the master of ceremony gave a brief sermon. The title of his short sermon was “Nurture Your First Love”. When he started we all looked at each other wondering what this was all about and how this fit into the occasion. But as he went on, it was very clear that this was a message not only to the newlyweds but to all the married people in the audience.


When you first fall in love, everything seems so beautiful, rosy and moving in slow motion. He gave an example of how a couple in love tends to share everything. If they buy two ice creams, they both lick at the same one and
take turns; it does not bother them who eats the largest potion. A couple in love does not get tired of being together, in each other’s company. None bothers the other. But wait a couple of years down the line:


1. Sharing food becomes taboo. The wife can no longer wait for hubby to come home since by the time he
arrives everything will be stone cold. Hubby is now a workaholic who leaves the office at odd hours during the night.


2. The irritation is unbearable as his jokes suddenly become so boring and embarrassing if in the company of other people.


3. One husband spends his time with his friends at the pub. He comes home late at night and expects the wife to be cheerful and eager to please him???


4. Where there should be milk and honey- there’s sour milk and honeycombs.


5. If you want your partner to treat you like a king/queen, treat them like a queen/king.


The master of ceremonies rightly observed that men are logical while women are emotional. Thus one should not expect the other to behave otherwise.

Valentine's Day Ideas

2 Major Reasons Why Couples Fight Over Money

Either there is too much or too little. That’s it…simple. It is quite fascinating how everything revolves around these two scenarios. We can argue from whatever angle we like but all boils down to these two facts. Let’s look at some examples of how this comes about.


When There’s Too Much Money

When there is too much money flowing in the home, people tend to be relaxed, throw caution to the wind and splash it around. Now if your partneris easy with money while you are miserly or the other way round, then you have a problem. People who are miserly tend to hold onto money, they are too attached and struggle to let go while those who are generous would like to splash it around. When such two people are coupled, there are grounds for fighting and arguments, accusations and counter accusations. 
 

Even if there is more than enough  money, they still fight!

There is more than enough but the partners just don’t see eye to eye. One wants to enjoy all the frills that come with the money such as holidays, luxury cars, nice clothes etc. but risks clashing with the partner who likes to trace where every penny has gone to. Some people shun the limelight and would rather lead a private life, not showing off or flaunting their wealth. I have read so many stories of people who lived like paupers and yet they had lots of money or gold and silver stashed somewhere. Others ended up leaving their wealth to charities or to their pets yet they never enjoyed the wealth when they were alive.


Priorities differ

 It is difficult for the carefree partner as they have to justify every expense leading to resentment and secret ending. Some people keep secret bank accounts from their partners so they can fund their interests easily
without risking interrogation and accusations. Then there is the case of men who when they have too much money end up with a string of concubines or “small houses” a colloquial reference in some circles. This causes strife in the home as interests become diverse and mismatched and lead to constant fighting over small issues while the main culprit remains too much money.

 
Too Little..

 Too little money in the home causes sleepless nights with  arguments over what to prioritize. If only one of the partners is the breadwinner, they might feel justified in wanting to have the final say. The situation becomes worse if the wife is the breadwinner as already men do not like to feel inferior or challenged by their female counterparts. Too little money in the home causes a variety of arguments as any topic can easily divert and end
  up being about money. The husband might accuse the wife of wasting his money on non- essential items and on the other hand the wife might feel like the husband is not providing enough for the home or spending on entertainment outside the home. A lot of animosity between couples can be traced back to money, from decisions on where to live, how many children to have, what diet or entertainment to have and even what schools the children should go to. 
 

What can you do about this?

 Next time you have an argument with your partner, examine it carefully to see if it’s not rooted in either too much money or too little. If it is due to too little, then it is time to look at ways to make extra cash.  Visit any of the videos on this page for
guidance.


Your comments are welcome. Plus discover the system that I use to
make more money for my family –Instant
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What is intuition?


It’s that still, small voice talking back at you at odd moments and gives you a fright sometimes. Suppose you are driving to work and suddenly a voice tells you or a fleeting thought says, “Turn right”. You actually want to laugh because; here you are…talking to  yourself. Then you find out a few minutes later that there was an accident a few meters from where you turned and had you kept going, you would have been stuck  in traffic. Or that voice that tells you to shut up, when you want to say something, then you realize you were going to say the wrong thing and that would have cost you your reputation.


So that is intuition, an inner knowing that cannot be explained by your logical mind but does affect your life in a
  big way. When you follow through with your intuition, sometimes magical  things happen and the rational mind cannot grasp. However, some people do not believe in this small voice but would rather call it old fashioned luck. To me  it is the same thing because sometimes we do things subconsciously without  being aware. Like in the case of driving on a busy road, one could be listening to the radio, when suddenly you apply brakes, only to realize that you missed the car in front by an inch. If you were not listening to the radio, perhaps you could have heard the voice clearly .So you call it  luck!


Different names for the same thing…


In religion there are different terms to describe the same  phenomenon. Some will say, it is the voice of God or the Holy Spirit or an Angel and other spiritual religions call it the Higher Self .Regardless of whatever name it is given, the point I want to make is that, it is very important to follow this small voice within us, as it is at the core of the self. It is the all- knowing voice that accompanies each and every one on their journey in  life. Often times ignoring this voice has led to tragic things happening andyou hear someone saying: “that thought passed through my mind but I ignored it.”


Intuition in business


So how does intuition apply in business? I have often woken up with a phrase or word continuously playing in my head. Perhaps something to do with a blog article, a marketing idea or an investment I have to make. My rule of thumb is that if I try to dismiss the thought/idea twice and it does not go away but comes back for the third time, then I have to implement it. My intuitive self is very patient with me as I established this rule to protect myself from compulsive behavior or being carried away by the multitude of hypnotic messages I come across throughout the day. In other words, I put my intuition to the test.


However, there are certain instances where I have  to trust the first instruction that pops up. Say, I have a form that I am  completing and it is asking me to tick a box to indicate what action I would like to take. Usually by the time that form is presented before me, there would have been preceding events that serve to prepare me for the decision. This happens to everyone, but the degree of clarity comes with practice and paying attention or being fully conscious of one’s surroundings. Intuition means different  things to different people.


It would be interesting to hear from others howintuition plays out in their  lives or businesses. Please leave a comment below.

Time Management on the fly!


Finding myself on a 3-hour flight to a southern Island country of Madagascar,  with no in-flight entertainment, I had to resort to some time management  tactics. The flight took off from Johannesburg where I spent the night in  transit. The plane is a small "S. A.  Air link" aircraft with no on board entertainment, in spite of a 3 hour journey. As a writer, my instinct immediately kicks in and I have to find a topic to write about to kill this time.
 
Writing
 Writing, journaling and blogging are fun ways of managing sudden idle time. I have since discovered that there are so many things to write about. From analyzing the character sitting next to you to the behavior of passengers; to the quality of service etc. The topics are many. I decide to focus on my thoughts and feelings and being in empower network means that I live and dream about  my future prospects. My mind briefly wanders off to the progress I have made so far in setting up my blog, posting articles and setting up advertising and promotion channels.

Marketing
As a natural writer, the writing part is already taken care of. It is the marketing bit which needs a lot of hand holding. Fortunately, I am now connected to social networking and social media marketing Firstly with Sokule">Sokule, I can squeak /post and blog from one platform and have my message posted to over 80 social media sites and blogs.This is a cool feature that I decided to use and I am currently a silver member. With the silver package it is possible to have my message automatically emailed every 3 days to my followers.

Empower Network
Upon joining Empower Network, I was linked to an elite Facebook group whose purpose is to assist members with setting up blogs, marketing and just cooling off and exchanging ideas with colleagues. It’s like a family, and there is a sub- group that only caters for women in business. This alone is worth more than the cost of buying the starter package at $25 apiece.


My mind wanders off to the various products that one has to invest in, in order to become an all- in member. Firstly, the “inner Circle” membership is another investment of $100 and this opens doors to mentorship by the biggest and successful minds on Empower Network. They share their secrets of success at no holds barred weekly calls. The 15K formula is another tool that links up the member with the best kept secrets of internet marketing. All the tricks of the trade are laid bare. Going “all in” with Empower Network is the sure way of  success with this program.

Chicago
My flight time management tactics seem to be working perfectly as a lot of ideas flood my mind and I suddenly find myself in Chicago. This is a member’s convention that everyone is looking forward to. I would love to go to Chicago!!! 

In fact, I will go to Chicago come April 2013.
 
I realize that I have to set my intention right if I want this to manifest in my life. At the Chicago convention, I believe I will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the who- is- who of the blogging and internet marketing world. Who does not want to be part of this cool event? For one to qualify though, you need to at least do the basic first and JOIN the blogging platform and become an affiliate. The affiliate program pays 100% commissions and it is one of a kind. It comes with a built in merchant for processing  your customer payments and
commissions and making them available for transfer to your bank account.

Joining Empower
 If you are reading this and wondering, how to join this network that is empowering ordinary folks all over the world, then  you need to watch this video first. If you decide this is for you , then take massive action. I will make sure anyone who JOINS under me gets the same training opportunities I got as well as access to the various Facebook groups.


I now realize that success is tied to effective time management as this session has proved to be productive. The Captain has just announced that there is 10 minutes to landing, so I guess it is time to put away my notebook
and buckle up. By the way, you can request more information HERE

Most of 2012 was spent by many chasing UFO’s, waiting for aliens from the Galactic Federation to land en-masse on a mission to save the human race. A year before that , many sold their worldly possessions in a bid to
secure a seat in heaven after the much publicized 21 May , end of the world date. The date was later moved to October of the same year but still nothing happened.

 In 2012, many people who believed that the world was coming to an end invested their life savings in underground bunkers, storerooms full of groceries, ammunition etc. All this was part of preparation for doomsday, slated for the 21st December 2012.But nothing happened and the world continues and the earth still rotates around the sun. 

Many prophesy and channelings have dwelt on the subject of mass landings, disclosure, apocalypse etc. with great abandon to the disappointment of many believers who put their lives on hold while they pursued these new age beliefs.

 Recently in my city, there has been an outcry over the story of a so-called prophet who claims to be able to miraculously manifest money (USD) into people’s bank accounts/pockets instantly. He is said to have demonstrated this ability on national TV. However, among the challenges to this Minister of The Gospel from a fellow Minister of Finance was that, if he is able to manifest money from nothing, then surely he should be able to transfer money into Treasury coffers so the country can pay its debts. Interesting enough two camps have since formed around this issue, the first consists of diehard supporters who believe a man of God should never be criticized or questioned and the second belongs to skeptics who suspect foul play. 
 
It is a very interesting world we are living in and so many events have proven how we are as gullible a human race as a toddler. I reserve judgment and leave it to the reader to discern what could be happening.

Finally a new year has dawned on us. After being pre-occupied with 2012 and its various prophesy, one never thought a new year would so gloriously be ushered into our presence. It is true that no one knows the day when the world will come to the end except its creator. Even Jesus did not know. Therefore it is prudent to take the New Year as an opportunity to re-create our lives. 

I spent New Year’s Eve full of nostalgia for a different set of events, less stressful than the past 12 months. When I got into 2012, I must have understated the toll it would have on my body, spirit and soul. Not to say that there was anything bad that happened but just keeping up with the pace was highly taxing. First there were the different interpretations of the Mayan prophesies, the spiritual ascension phenomena, the end of the world from a pagan and a Christian perspective, the possibility of aliens landing on our  planet leading to some disclosure etc. etc. The media in all its forms was awash with speculation after speculation. Huge volumes of channelings were offered in an attempt to explain events and offer advice about what to do when. It was such a confused year.

 However, for those grounded in their spiritual truth, 2012 came and went with the least of stress. As for me, I spent New Year’s Eve, visualizing and praying for an opportunity to re-create whatever suffered from lack of attention due to my pre-occupation with the past year.  What came to mind included the recreation of my relationships. As I tried to keep pace with 2012, I must have ignored a lot of relationships that needed nurturing. Starting at home, I would like to re-create my relationship with my family, i.e. spend more quality time with them. I would also like to re-create my relationships with my friends and work colleagues; to appreciate and give them more attention. 
 
There are other greater desires that I have held since childhood but have not had an opportunity to manifest such as becoming a published author and running a successful business.  Thus I’m taking 2013 seriously as I believe this is an opportunity to re-create these dreams and pursue them.


Happy New Year!