<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/atom10full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" gd:etag="W/&quot;Ck4FRH85eip7ImA9WhRWGE4.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333</id><updated>2012-01-06T01:21:55.122-05:00</updated><category term="good news" /><category term="Defining Moment" /><category term="Marriage" /><category term="inspirational" /><category term="Friendship" /><category term="positive attitude" /><category term="tribute" /><category term="loss" /><category term="change" /><category term="Thanksgiving" /><category term="self image" /><category term="creative visualization" /><category term="relationships" /><category term="Apple" /><category term="overcoming fear" /><category term="22q11" /><category term="leadership" /><category term="Wayne Dyer" /><category term="self determinism" /><category term="Law of Attraction" /><category term="New Years" /><category term="manifestation" /><category term="upbeat" /><category term="humor" /><category term="romance" /><category term="How To Succeed" /><category term="Wisdom" /><category term="Motivational" /><category term="business" /><category term="spiritual" /><category term="perspective" /><category term="Decisions" /><category term="confidence" /><category term="Christmas" /><category term="Shprintzen" /><category term="Introspection" /><category term="goals" /><category term="Problem solving" /><category term="Coaching" /><category term="communication" /><category term="VCFS" /><category term="positivity" /><category term="attitude of gratitude" /><category term="Happiness" /><category term="Inspiration" /><category term="self help. winning" /><category term="ThinkTQ" /><category term="Self Help" /><category term="Memorial Day" /><category term="Life" /><category term="Self Mastery" /><category term="inner peace" /><category term="goal setting" /><category term="winning" /><category term="velo-cardio-facial syndrome" /><category term="consistency" /><category term="kindness" /><category term="convenience" /><category term="identity" /><category term="Love" /><category term="Success" /><category term="independence" /><category term="fun" /><category term="Self Control Destiny" /><category term="iPad" /><category term="getting along" /><category term="self-help" /><category term="appreciation" /><title>Ramblings "Lite"</title><subtitle type="html">A &lt;i&gt;Lite&lt;/i&gt; version of the inspired Kelvin's "&lt;a href="http://www.ringold.net/past_issues.html"&gt;RAMBLINGS&lt;/a&gt;" e-zine.  My little take on the world.  This is a fun place -- warm, friendly, motivational, uplifting and challenging.  Those are the rules.  I hope you enjoy it.  Your comments... are welcome.</subtitle><link rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/" /><link rel="next" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false&amp;v=2" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><generator version="7.00" uri="http://www.blogger.com">Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>105</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/jnyG" /><feedburner:info uri="blogspot/jnyg" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><feedburner:browserFriendly>This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.</feedburner:browserFriendly><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;Ck4FRH85cCp7ImA9WhRWGE4.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-2433385926278432855</id><published>2012-01-06T01:02:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2012-01-06T01:21:55.128-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2012-01-06T01:21:55.128-05:00</app:edited><title>Tons of Self-Improvement Materials</title><content type="html">&lt;a href="http://selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/1221" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;
&lt;img border="0" src="http://selfimprovementgifts6.com/members/banners/SIG6_Banner250x.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;We all look for self-improvement information from time to time, and I ran across -- okay, was invited -- to this one, and also invited to submit my gifts.&amp;nbsp; I contributed a 5 day Positivity Boost... sample of vitamin K and a free 1200x800 pixel inspirational computer wallpaper.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There's a plethora of free information here, so I encourage you to take a look and see if anything piques your interest.&amp;nbsp; There's over 600 free items during this one-month promotion including: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Affirmations For A Wealthy Mindset Audio - Elaine Lockard&lt;br /&gt;
* The All-Natural, No-Fail Weight-Loss System - Willie Crawford&lt;br /&gt;
* 10 Free Personal Development Reports - Steven Aitchison&lt;br /&gt;
* Sound Transformation Starter Kit - Iain Legg&lt;br /&gt;
* A Beginners Guide To Running - Paul Klein&lt;br /&gt;
* 3 FREE Hypnosis MP3s - Dan Bainbridge&lt;br /&gt;
* How to Make Your Mind a Money Magnet! - Dr. Robert Anthony&lt;br /&gt;
* The Law of Attraction Key - Kristen Howe&lt;br /&gt;
* Create Your Own Self Improvements Products - Keith Purkiss&lt;br /&gt;
* Brain Maximization Package - Alvin Huang&lt;br /&gt;
* And Much Much More!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It all starts here, so give it a look:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href="http://selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/1221"&gt;http://selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/1221&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have an awesome day!&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin P Ringold, Sr&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
P.S. Download all the gifts immediately and check &lt;br /&gt;
back often because more are being added all the &lt;br /&gt;
time:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href="http://selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/1221"&gt;http://selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/1221&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-2433385926278432855?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/2433385926278432855/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=2433385926278432855" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/2433385926278432855?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/2433385926278432855?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2012/01/tons-of-self-improvement-materials.html" title="Tons of Self-Improvement Materials" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;C0YCQ3k7fSp7ImA9WhRWE0g.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-533437444404059379</id><published>2011-12-31T12:06:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-12-31T12:06:02.705-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-12-31T12:06:02.705-05:00</app:edited><title>End of Year... No Regrets</title><content type="html">&lt;div class="tr_bq"&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Happy New Year!!!&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; HERE we are at the final day -- the final 12 hours, at this point, of 2011. And many of us ask ourselves -- what have we done with the past year... what do I regret?&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While I can't answer that question for you, I'd like to suggest a point of view, and that is... regret nothing. Chances are, you did the best you could with what you had; even if you KNEW something else was a better plan there was something deep inside you that caused you to do something else, and from that experience you likely learned something and that lesson -- those lessons -- will serve you well in the coming year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thank you for continuing to read and cherish my thoughts, and for sending your friends and other people you care about.&amp;nbsp; I'm looking forward to many successes and joys in 2012 and I hope you'll be a part of them in one way or another.&amp;nbsp; So before I sign off with my typical end of year poem, I'd like to suggest two things: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote class="tr_bq"&gt;
1.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Until midnight tonight&lt;/b&gt;, I'm offering my new "&lt;a href="http://intenselypositive.com/intensely-positive-pen/" target="_blank"&gt;Intensely Positive&lt;/a&gt;" ball point pen for 30% off .&amp;nbsp; It's a beauty.&amp;nbsp; Check it out here: &lt;a href="http://intenselypositive.com/intensely-positive-pen/"&gt;http://intenselypositive.com/intensely-positive-pen/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2.&amp;nbsp; My friend Nachhi Randhawa published a &lt;a href="http://grandlifesolutions.com/blog/goals/top-ten-year-end-review-questions-2/" target="_blank"&gt;Top Ten Year End Review Questions&lt;/a&gt; post that&lt;b&gt; I wish&lt;/b&gt; I'd written (no that's not a regret) and I recommend the read to help prepare for 2012.&lt;/blockquote&gt;
Thanks again for staying with me! and please, have a wonderful, joyful, prosperous New Year and remember... &lt;b&gt;when you master your mindset, you master your life.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt; Enjoy the poem.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;blockquote class="tr_bq"&gt;
&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;No Regrets &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We close this year with no regrets, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We say good bye to gripes and frets &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We ran our race just like before &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;And now "next year" is at our door. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;At first we feared, we're out of time &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Then realized the paradigm &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Just shifted in our favor now &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Recharged our glass, renewed our vow &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We learned from previous mistakes &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We &lt;b&gt;re-assessed&lt;/b&gt; the steps we'll make &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Re-focussed&lt;/b&gt; on our journey's end &lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Re-plotted&lt;/b&gt; strategies to win &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We know that there IS NO disgrace &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;BECAUSE we still are in this race &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We haven't quit -- we'll see the end &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We paused and got our second wind &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;And now &lt;b&gt;refreshed, recharged and fine &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We're full-speed to the finish line &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Into our future we now delve &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;We're sure to win in twenty-twelve.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
HAPPY NEW YEAR, my friends.&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-533437444404059379?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/533437444404059379/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=533437444404059379" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/533437444404059379?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/533437444404059379?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/12/end-of-year-no-regrets.html" title="End of Year... No Regrets" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;DUMFQnc8eyp7ImA9WhdbGUs.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-1622181160713562642</id><published>2011-10-18T15:47:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2011-10-18T15:50:13.973-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-10-18T15:50:13.973-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="consistency" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="winning" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positivity" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="overcoming fear" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positive attitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="goal setting" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>Step by Step</title><content type="html">In the "dreams come true" department -- or at least the goals set and accomplished -- we have the first anniversary (we're calling it birthday) of my daily dose of positive -- &lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;Vitamin K Daily&lt;/a&gt;! launched on October 18th, 2010 !&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A couple of years ago one of my photographer friends made a comment about my positivity on Facebook and asked "what would you charge for a daily dose of positive?" I smiled (virtually) and told her I'd let her know, at that time not really "planning" to make that happen beyond the little positive updates I made on Twitter and Facebook but the idea kept gnawing at me -- it wasn't the first time I'd gotten the question.&amp;nbsp; I fought all kinds of self-doubt thoughts: "why would people care what I had to say?" "I can't charge, there's so much out here for free;" "Wow, I couldn't think of something to say every day and what if I missed a day?"&amp;nbsp; Just because we're positive, doesn't mean we escape the self-doubt self-talk. Positive people aren't immune to negative self-talk, we're just not immobilized by it.&amp;nbsp; We acknowledge it, put it into perspective and move on because negative self talk is the smoke and mirror game of fear.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In this case I already had a couple of hundred people subscribed to my other e-writings, so I knew that people liked what I had to say.&amp;nbsp; This was just a bigger test; bigger for me, really, moreso than my readers, because THIS choice would obligate me to producing a positive piece &lt;i&gt;every single day&lt;/i&gt; (Monday through Friday; I gave myself Saturday and Sunday off), 52 weeks a year!&amp;nbsp; With my other writings, publication had been more a whim than a schedule.&amp;nbsp; Consistency had not been one of my writing/blogging strong suits and committing to that kind of consistency, quite frankly, frightened me.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There's much more to the story, and maybe I'll vignette some the other "obstacles" later, but I'm pleased to say that I *did* lauuch Daily Dose, it was subsequently dubbed "Vitamin K" by one of my readers and great friends, and I'm pleased to say that in the past year I have not missed a single day of publication.&amp;nbsp; The technology tried very hard a couple of times to give me a reason to fail, but I didn't take the out. Once, my computer crashed so I typed the daily message on my iPhone and uploaded it that way. so it would launch on time."&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So &lt;b&gt;step by step&lt;/b&gt; -- in this case, day by day -- goals get accomplished. Break it down into smaller pieces and handle them one at a time. Know what the big picture looks like, but concentrate on placing the puzzle pieces one at a time and the picture will gradually materialize.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Now for the next year!&amp;nbsp; Incidentally, &lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;Daily Dose&lt;/a&gt; is only $24.95 a year.&amp;nbsp; That's only 9.5 cents a day for a better attitude. The accolades I've been getting... daily... tell me it's worth it.&amp;nbsp; What is YOUR attitude worth?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have a beautiful day!&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;http://www.vitaminkdaily.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-1622181160713562642?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/1622181160713562642/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=1622181160713562642" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1622181160713562642?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1622181160713562642?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/10/step-by-step.html" title="Step by Step" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;A0MCSX09eCp7ImA9WhdVGUU.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-1658036901804167516</id><published>2011-09-18T23:43:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2011-09-25T18:24:28.360-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-09-25T18:24:28.360-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="convenience" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="iPad" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Defining Moment" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Happiness" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Apple" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>I Think the iPad is Changing My Life</title><content type="html">&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511mZM1T6VL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511mZM1T6VL.jpg" width="153" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;iPAD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's bizarre.&amp;nbsp; When the&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt; iPad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; first came out, I was one of THE most adamant "that's ridiculous" skeptics out there. That whole tablet thing just smacked of commercial b.s. for hard core gadgeteers... techno-freaks. And the money... for "that?"&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Oh my gosh, how ridiculous !&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
That was then -- before so many of my photographer colleagues had them and told me the incredible things they were doing with them; the energy saving, productivity boosting things they were accomplishing. That was before I went to a two-day photo workshop by my friend &lt;a href="http://www.tasha-prescott.com/#/welcome/"&gt;Tasha Prescott&lt;/a&gt; and watched her run the whole thing from her &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;iPad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, interfacing with her mac and that big screen TV, running slide shows from the iPad wirelessly and seamlessly.&amp;nbsp; That was before I saw how perfect those apps were for niche tasks... and all the things the &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;iPad&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/b&gt;could do with the apps -- thousands and thousands -- developed for it. THAT was before I held one in my hands... where upon I promptly lost the "that's ridiculous" battle and started drooling uncontrollably.&amp;nbsp; Luckily, another photographer friend told me about price reduced, refurbished units (generation 1) I could get from the Apple Store at the time (just after the iPad 2 came out).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
No one has ever accused me of being an early adopter, but once I'm sold, I'm a heck of an evangelist, and I am absolutely sold on the&lt;b&gt; &lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;iPad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. Now wondering... how did I ever get along in life without it. I SHOULD have known, since the iPhone -- when I got my 3G just after the iPhone 4 came out -- was the first cell phone I'd owned in 10 years where I didn't want to take it back to the store (or throw it against a hard surface) within 24 hours of getting it fully charged.&amp;nbsp; The iPhone just worked "as advertised." At this point Apple could sell me just about anything because they make good on their promise. Period.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But enough hyperbole (that's for my friend &lt;a href="http://www.ttmitchellconsulting.com/bio.html"&gt;Mitch&lt;/a&gt;).&amp;nbsp; The&lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;&lt;b&gt; iPad&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; for me is a great mix of technology, ingenuity and selective focus, not to mention it's just plain beautiful. It's about as comfortable to take around as a pad of paper.I'll sit up and browse the news sitting on my couch, watching tv and get informed.&amp;nbsp; That's big for me, since I don't watch the news. But I can pick a specific app that does exactly what I want it to do -- and that's all it does -- and it makes it easy. It makes so many things pleasant. And you might say, "but Kelvin, you could do that with a laptop..."&amp;nbsp; No you can't. Comparatively, the laptop is big and bulky, inconvenient and SLOW.&amp;nbsp; When I want news, "touch" and it's there --NOW.&amp;nbsp; A &lt;b&gt;dedicated, specialized app&lt;/b&gt; for nearly any purpose. Browse the web, see something, print to my wireless printer from the iPad.&amp;nbsp; Snap!&amp;nbsp; Done. On the PC, it took 15 minutes to install that printer software, and program it, and set it up to wireless operation.&amp;nbsp; iPad app, downloaded in about 30 seconds for that manufacturer.&amp;nbsp; Tap the app, it FOUND the printer in about 10 seconds, and when I hit print, it printed. No muss; no fuss.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
AND NOW... with the upcoming &lt;a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html"&gt;iOS 5, Apple&lt;/a&gt; is making the&lt;b&gt; &lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;iPad&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/b&gt;completely self sufficient via the cloud and I won't even need to hook it up to iTunes to sync it? That's just too slick for words, and I don't even NEED the &lt;a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html"&gt;other 200+ enhancements&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So the iPad is changing my life. It's making cumbersome things easy, tedious things fun and it replaces my computer for about 80% of the things I use a computer for, and let's me do them with the ease and comfort of flipping through a magazine. And I'm reading this on the &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;iPad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; that I said I'd never do -- like news (ugh) but only in small doses (see&lt;b&gt; &lt;a href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2009/04/6-steps-to-being-positive.html"&gt;6 Steps to Being Positive&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;) &lt;b&gt;It just makes it easy&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But that's me. Unless I need to do some heavy duty writing (like this blog post) when I want a full sized keyboard, or I'm editting images from a photo shoot and need the disk storage space for the images and the power to run a program suite like Photoshop and related programs, the &lt;a href="http://amzn.to/reltmY"&gt;&lt;b&gt;iPad&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; lets me do my other stuff -- quick stuff -- quickly, and simply, and conveniently.&amp;nbsp; And that's all I have to say about that (sorry, Forrest.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have an awesome day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-1658036901804167516?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/1658036901804167516/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=1658036901804167516" title="4 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1658036901804167516?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1658036901804167516?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-think-ipad-is-changing-my-life.html" title="I Think the iPad is Changing My Life" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;DE4FR3k7eSp7ImA9WhZWGE4.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-3857570825177012972</id><published>2011-05-19T11:17:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2011-05-19T16:28:36.701-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-05-19T16:28:36.701-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="attitude of gratitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thanksgiving" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positivity" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Inspiration" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positive attitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="appreciation" /><title>My Most Prized Possession</title><content type="html">People often tell me how I affect their lives in a positive way, but I rarely write about people who have affected my life in a positive way, at least not beyond the "general" sense.&amp;nbsp; But this has been a sweet week for me, in part because one of my dear friends and "little sisters" realized a great accomplishment this week, and her response to me for believing in her and encouraging her humbled me, and even made me a little teary (ever so briefly, says manly man.) But that will be another blog post.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In my office hangs a plaque, given to me some years ago by a tremendous friend -- Karen. I use only her first name because, well... she's shy, perhaps.&amp;nbsp; If she decides to identify herself further by commenting on this blog then you'll know.&amp;nbsp; But when I received the plaque from her, it was very humbling to me and truth be told... another one of those teary moments for me.&amp;nbsp; Why? Because this plaque, in it's few but tremendously powerful words, illustrated with a beautiful rendition of an eagle in flight -- epitomized what I try to do for people.&amp;nbsp; I love to help people and help them feel better about life and themselves.&amp;nbsp; I believe that's why I'm on the planet, and most of the things I do characterize that in some way.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This plaque, given to me all those years ago, has the same effect on me each and every time I read it. And I do not take for granted that anyone will feel this way about me every day, so each day I strive to continue to live up to these words, which I now present for your e-listening pleasure. May you strive to live up to them in YOUR life.&amp;nbsp; It reads:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;EXCELLENCE: Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe; Dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;To my friend Karen, thank you. These words continue to have the same effect on me as the day you gave them to me, and they always bring me back to a place of &lt;b&gt;humility&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;gratitude&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Your gift -- this gift you gave me -- is in fact, my most prized possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have a beautiful day, and life.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-3857570825177012972?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/3857570825177012972/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=3857570825177012972" title="9 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3857570825177012972?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3857570825177012972?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-most-prized-possession.html" title="My Most Prized Possession" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>9</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;D08CSXw8eip7ImA9WhZQEUQ.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-8599315754431235087</id><published>2011-04-19T02:51:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2011-04-19T02:51:08.272-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-04-19T02:51:08.272-04:00</app:edited><title>It All Starts With You...</title><content type="html">You wake up every morning "as the world turns" and wake up to see how you feel. Many gurus will tell you that you need their book, poem, METHOD to feel better, but really all you need, in most cases, is an awareness of who you are.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We spend a lot of time letting other people define who we are, and many of us really don't look inward to see for ourselves.&amp;nbsp; At some point in life, we all have to take responsibility for who we are and what we become. We can spend a lot of time as victims and blaming people and situations from our past for who we are today, but often that blame is an excuse.&amp;nbsp; It's like having someone give you a ride and drop you off on a certain corner and you STAY on that corner and blame them for leaving you there. There may be a lot of reasons why you stay on that corner, but unless whoever it was chained you to the light post, you have the power to move, to turn around, to walk up the street or across the street, ask for directions and move in some other direction that takes you where you want to go.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Of course... if you don't know where&amp;nbsp; you want to go, you probably won't move. You've got to know where you want to go, who and or what you want to be.&amp;nbsp; You won't necessarily know right away how you'll get there, but how is not nearly the main thing. "Where" is the main thing.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A few years ago, Microsoft had an awesome slogan: "Where do you want to go today?" And that's the question we each have to answer for our lives.&amp;nbsp; Don't be afraid to answer it, because without that answer there is no direction and you'll stay on that corner, and &lt;b&gt;you're better than that.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Where do you want to go today, my friend?&amp;nbsp; It all starts with you!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have a beautiful day!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-8599315754431235087?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/8599315754431235087/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=8599315754431235087" title="5 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8599315754431235087?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8599315754431235087?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-all-starts-with-you.html" title="It All Starts With You..." /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;DUEBR386fCp7ImA9WhZTFUg.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-4189339215523961929</id><published>2011-03-19T14:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2011-03-19T14:00:56.114-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-03-19T14:00:56.114-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="self-help" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="perspective" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Success" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>Point to Ponder</title><content type="html">Most people have dozens of reasons to fail; when all they need is ONE good reason... to succeed.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-4189339215523961929?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/4189339215523961929/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=4189339215523961929" title="3 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/4189339215523961929?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/4189339215523961929?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/03/point-to-ponder.html" title="Point to Ponder" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;A0QHSHw4eip7ImA9Wx9bE0g.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-7593500208199631938</id><published>2011-02-22T02:08:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2011-02-22T02:22:19.232-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-02-22T02:22:19.232-05:00</app:edited><title>Vitamin "K" - EVERY Week Day</title><content type="html">&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXiSRnF8LqY/TWKwYsESrKI/AAAAAAAAAOU/62gzOdAzLjY/s1600/VitK_DDOP_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXiSRnF8LqY/TWKwYsESrKI/AAAAAAAAAOU/62gzOdAzLjY/s1600/VitK_DDOP_blog.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;It’s been an exciting journey, but my &lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;Daily Dose of Positive&lt;/a&gt; finally has &lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;a permanent home&lt;/a&gt;. A small change, &lt;b&gt;Daily Dose of Positive &lt;/b&gt;was affectionately dubbed&lt;b&gt;Vitamin K&lt;/b&gt; by one of my twitter friends and that label caught on and has become it’s trademark.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Vitamin K&lt;/b&gt;was free from it's inception on October 18th, 2010 while we worked out the kinks, but with the launch of the web page, we added the &lt;i&gt;teenie &lt;/i&gt;annual subscription  fee of only &lt;b&gt;$24.94 per year.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; That’s Monday through Friday, 52 weeks a  year, 260 daily personalized messages for a mere 9.5 cents per day, not to mention a  few periodic surprises.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Is your attitude worth that? Of course it is.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;Lots of cool stuff coming and lots more people to thank, but BIGGEST THANKS to my awesome &lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Vitamin K&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  subscribers around the globe, whose feedback and affection keeps me  writing, and makes me feel like a rock star.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;If you’re not one of us yet…  feel free to&lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/" target="_blank"&gt; join us&lt;/a&gt; for the delectable morsels that many tell me is &lt;b&gt;the first thing &lt;/b&gt;they look for when they wake up in the morning &lt;img alt=":-)" class="wp-smiley" src="http://intenselypositive.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" /&gt;.&amp;nbsp; AND you can visit our fan page at &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/vitaminkdaily." style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;http://www.facebook.com/vitaminkdaily.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;9.5 cents a day?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt; $2.00 a month.&amp;nbsp; Just click this link below.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;You're &lt;b&gt;you’re worth it!&lt;/b&gt; &lt;img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" src="http://intenselypositive.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" /&gt;&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.vitaminkdaily.com/"&gt;http://www.vitaminkdaily.com&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;Have an awesome day!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: white;"&gt;Kelvin&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-7593500208199631938?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/7593500208199631938/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=7593500208199631938" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/7593500208199631938?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/7593500208199631938?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/02/vitamin-k-every-week-day.html" title="Vitamin &quot;K&quot; - EVERY Week Day" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXiSRnF8LqY/TWKwYsESrKI/AAAAAAAAAOU/62gzOdAzLjY/s72-c/VitK_DDOP_blog.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;CU4NQng6fSp7ImA9Wx9WGEs.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-3516617548235199175</id><published>2011-01-24T04:58:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2011-01-24T05:13:13.615-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-01-24T05:13:13.615-05:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Friendship" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="attitude of gratitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="appreciation" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>I know Christmas is over, but...</title><content type="html">M&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;any years ago when he was very young, my baby boy, Michael, was wrapping a Christmas gift for someone. At his (then) tender age, he considered it an expression of himself to "artistically" wad the wrapping paper around the gift, put a little tape and a ribbon on it, and call it a day. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;Because I knew who's gift he was wrapping, I suggested to him that he might take a little more care in wrapping it, because if he were receiving a gift from that person, it would be lovingly and meticulously wrapped, and presented to him as a near work of art, and tried to impress upon him that &lt;b&gt;sometimes&lt;/b&gt; the care and affection we put into something isn't to necessarily reflect our own desires, but rather to somehow recognize and show our appreciation for the love or care the other person would have put in it for us.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_otfky2krU4E/TT1Kk-cXcAI/AAAAAAAAAOM/Lxxkyc5EWOY/s1600/t_ornament_6556.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_otfky2krU4E/TT1Kk-cXcAI/AAAAAAAAAOM/Lxxkyc5EWOY/s320/t_ornament_6556.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Pictured here is beautiful decoration for my tree, given to me by a loving friend who doesn't celebrate Christmas &lt;i&gt;(at least, not usually)&lt;/i&gt; but because of our friendship, sent it to honor our friendship and my celebration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: "&gt;It means a lot to me, on so many levels, and is one of the purist offerings of affection and appreciation I've ever received.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: ;"&gt;To my friend, thank you for your affection and friendship.&amp;nbsp; I know you didn't expect any such recognition, but I wanted you to know how deeply appreciative I am of your gift, and that I will treasure you -- and it -- for all time.&amp;nbsp; May your upcoming year be as beautiful and kind and loving...as you are.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: ;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: ;"&gt;And that acknowledges -- in book --&amp;nbsp; yet another&amp;nbsp; Christmas Miracle.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: ;"&gt;Good day, my friends,&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-3516617548235199175?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/3516617548235199175/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=3516617548235199175" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3516617548235199175?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3516617548235199175?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-know-christmas-is-over-but.html" title="I know Christmas is over, but..." /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_otfky2krU4E/TT1Kk-cXcAI/AAAAAAAAAOM/Lxxkyc5EWOY/s72-c/t_ornament_6556.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;D0cGRHY8fSp7ImA9Wx9XEEo.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-7564427216071426687</id><published>2011-01-03T12:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-01-03T12:17:05.875-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-01-03T12:17:05.875-05:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="upbeat" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Help" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="self determinism" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Control Destiny" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="New Years" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Decisions" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="goal setting" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="creative visualization" /><title>A Poem for 2011</title><content type="html">Greetings, my friends!&lt;br /&gt;
This went to my &lt;b&gt;Vitamin K&lt;/b&gt; subscribers this morning.&amp;nbsp; I got such great feedback from it, that I decided to share it with the world!&amp;nbsp; Enjoy it, send it to your friends, put it on your walls and wallpaper and the inside of your notebooks and planners, but whatever you do... &lt;b&gt;take action ;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style="font-family: &amp;quot;Helvetica Neue&amp;quot;,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Happy New Year!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;The New Year's here! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;The cards are stacked&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;2-0-1-1 is clearly packed&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;With opportunities galore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;To win, to rise, and even SOAR!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;What is the goal, fixed in your gaze&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;It cannot be obscured by haze.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;Must know, for sure, without a doubt&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;Then walk by faith, within...without&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;Toward the dream that is your goal&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;That fires the embers in your soul&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;It might take WORK--but that's okay&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;That makes the victory sweeter - yay! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;Just plan your work, then work your plan&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;The map will change as you cross the land&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;But later when the journey's done&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;You'll think that trip was so much fun.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;Go ahead and ROCK 2011 -- I'll be cheering for you all the way.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;------------------&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Note:&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Final chance for &lt;b&gt;free&lt;/b&gt; subscription to &lt;b&gt;"Vitamin K"&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="color: #660000;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://forms.aweber.com/form/81/232897381.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;http://forms.aweber.com/form/81/232897381.htm&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia;"&gt;Offer Ends: Friday, 1/7/2011&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-7564427216071426687?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/7564427216071426687/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=7564427216071426687" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/7564427216071426687?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/7564427216071426687?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2011/01/poem-for-2011.html" title="A Poem for 2011" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;CUUDQ34zfCp7ImA9Wx9RF0o.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-8266583666863067195</id><published>2010-12-19T10:41:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2010-12-19T10:41:12.084-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-12-19T10:41:12.084-05:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="attitude of gratitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fun" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="inspirational" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Happiness" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Introspection" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Christmas" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="inner peace" /><title>6 Days Before Christmas and...</title><content type="html">Six days before Christmas and all through the house...LOL. Fooled you -- no poem.&amp;nbsp; Maybe next time. But a couple of days ago I published a &lt;a href="http://forms.aweber.com/form/81/232897381.htm"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Vitamin K&lt;/b&gt; (Daily Dose of Positive )&lt;/a&gt;-- and wished everyone a relaxed, stress-free weekend. One of my friends (you know who you are) wrote me back and said, "Relaxed? Stress-free? It's 7 days before Christmas; are you daft?"&amp;nbsp; Hmmm.&amp;nbsp; Well, first I had to look that up (sometimes it's the little words that get you).&amp;nbsp; Definitions were:&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt; &lt;b&gt;senseless,&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt; &lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt;stupid,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt;or&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt;foolish,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt; insane;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;crazy,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt; merry;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword"&gt;playful;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt; &lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;frolicsome&lt;/b&gt;." And my answer is &lt;b&gt;YES! All of the above :-)&lt;/b&gt;, but &lt;i&gt;NOT&lt;/i&gt; stressed!&amp;nbsp; And perhaps not stressed for the first time in my life, at the this time of the year; but for whatever reason, I'm not.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;Perhaps it's the retired status, or perhaps it's just my awareness that I can only do what I can do.&amp;nbsp; Then again, perhaps it's because this year I'm not so concerned about other people's expectations and more focused on my piece of mine (&amp;lt;-- that was for my friend &lt;a href="http://www.ttmitchellconsulting.com/Mitchblog/you-are-validated/"&gt;Mitch&lt;/a&gt;. He likes to catch my mistakes. Make that "&lt;i&gt;peace of mind&lt;/i&gt;.")&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;But, we're smack dab in the middle of THE season of peace, tranquility, love, appreciation, gratitude and good will for all mankind. Somehow, "stress" just seems so out of place.&amp;nbsp; Perhaps I am just fortunate not to be living a stressful life right now, or perhaps... I've just chosen to be stress free. Don't get me wrong... I KNOW there are people in the world who are deluged in stressful, painful situations right now and they can't be totally stress-free life at present, but for most of us... most of the people I know... the stress is optional... but for the "things" we're focusing on, and the meaning we are voluntarily assigning to those things. LOTS of people are giving gifts this season that are attached to so much stress they can hardly see.&amp;nbsp; But, I'd like to suggest that... &lt;/span&gt;no matter what you &lt;i&gt;BUY&lt;/i&gt; this Christmas... that the gifts you GIVE are love.. warmth... appreciation... gratitude... and acceptance.&amp;nbsp; Those will go further than the material thing(s) you attach to them, and I guarantee you'll feel better about &lt;b&gt;you&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Incidentally, you also need to give &lt;b&gt;yourself&lt;/b&gt; the gifts of love, gratitude and acceptance; because despite what most marketers and some of your acquaintances might tell you... you're okay. Even precious diamonds have imperfections. Then again, it is we who define imperfect...&amp;nbsp; &lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;And if you're having some challenges with that... &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;perhaps you might enroll in my &lt;a href="http://forms.aweber.com/form/81/232897381.htm"&gt;Daily Dose of Vitamin K&lt;/a&gt;. We cover those points often. It was planned&amp;nbsp; to be &lt;b&gt;on sale&lt;/b&gt; now, but it's not yet... so take advantage of it for now and we'll just call it my Christmas gift to you &lt;i&gt;(and anyone you pass that link onto between now and when I finally get the sale page online.)&lt;/i&gt; You can check out a &lt;a href="http://intenselypositive.com/blog/2010/11/02/once-a-day-with-vitamin-k/"&gt;few comments here&lt;/a&gt;. And who knows, maybe by the time you get there...there will be a few more.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;So that's it, my friends. I wish for you a stress-free holiday season; focused on the things that really matter, as you give the gifts of&amp;nbsp; love, gratitude and acceptance... regardless of what "physical" gifts you attach to them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;Have a beautiful week.&amp;nbsp; And incidentally... there's an &lt;b&gt;excellent&lt;/b&gt; video on &lt;a href="http://www.ttmitchellconsulting.com/Mitchblog/you-are-validated/"&gt;Mitch's blog&lt;/a&gt; that it would be good for everyone to see, this time of year especially. So if you didn't click it, go ahead and click on his name / link and watch it. Take a stress-free 16 minutes and check it out.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;Love and Light to you ;-)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: default;"&gt;Kelvin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class="luna-Ent"&gt;&lt;div class="dndata"&gt;&lt;span id="hotword"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-8266583666863067195?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/8266583666863067195/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=8266583666863067195" title="4 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8266583666863067195?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8266583666863067195?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/12/6-days-before-christmas-and.html" title="6 Days Before Christmas and..." /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;DkEGQXYyfSp7ImA9Wx9bE0g.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-6420445133577008433</id><published>2010-11-25T01:54:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2011-02-22T01:03:40.895-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2011-02-22T01:03:40.895-05:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="attitude of gratitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Wayne Dyer" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thanksgiving" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="appreciation" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Love" /><title>I'm Thankful For It All</title><content type="html">It's been a beautiful year so far, not to be confused with a year where everything went as I'd planned. I've been a party to making some people happy, helping some dreams come true, facilitating some folks and helping them see through and beyond life's fog, and have had others do the same for me.&amp;nbsp; I've experienced some wonderful highs, and some less than wonderful lows, and there's a good chance I've been part of a low for someone else.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You&amp;nbsp; might think it ludicrous that I am thankful for the lows as well as the highs, but they both are part of the duality of life, so explains my friend &lt;a href="http://www.nightingale.com/prod_detail.aspx?product=Manifesting_Your_Destiny&amp;amp;promo=INTAFF10"&gt;Dr. Wayne Dyer&lt;/a&gt; &lt;i&gt;(no, we've not met or talked by I call him friend anyway, because I have learned from him.)&lt;/i&gt; Because without a low, there is no high; without a back, there is no front.&amp;nbsp; Each of my experiences this year -- happy and not so happy -- has contained a lesson which has benefited me, and as we know... it takes struggle and resistance to make muscles strong.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Now, don't get me wrong.&amp;nbsp; I am pleased to say that my life has experienced predominantly ups... for which I am extremely grateful; but even within the disappointments, I can still point to momentous smiles, so &lt;b&gt;I'm thankful for it all.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Among all the things I'm thankful for, I'd like to list a few of the most significant:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. I am blessed with excellent health and vitality, often in spite of my apparent efforts to the contrary ;-)&lt;br /&gt;
2. I am blessed with the gift of speaking and writing that touches people's souls, and further blessed that many have let me know how I've affected them. That knowledge itself... is a gift beyond measure, for me. &lt;br /&gt;
3. I'm blessed with having some of the best and most caring friends a person can have; most of them I've met -- but some of them, I have not.&lt;br /&gt;
4.&amp;nbsp; I have been blessed to love -- and be loved -- on many different levels, and though the highs of that have not always lasted, the memory of them has.&lt;br /&gt;
5.&amp;nbsp; I am&amp;nbsp; blessed to see blue skies and sunshine, even in a storm, and blessed to hear birds singing, even when there is no sound.&lt;br /&gt;
6.&amp;nbsp; I am blessed to wake up each morning with a smile in my heart, if not on my face &lt;i&gt;(but it catches up soon)&lt;/i&gt;&amp;nbsp; and blessed that something happens nearly everyday that leaves me -- at night -- feeling glad that I was part of that day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
7. I am blessed with a beautiful family, the shining stars of which are three awesome children who are healthy, self-sufficient, self reliant and all contributing to society in a meaningful way... and oh yeah... I'm pretty sure they all love me, too ;-)&amp;nbsp; Plus, I laugh almost daily with my 82 year old mom, though less frequently with my brother and sisters.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
That's just the tip of my list... which goes very deep.&amp;nbsp; And, occasionally, I break out the long yellow pad and fill it up, just to keep perspective.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So today, my friends, as you celebrate &lt;b&gt;Thanksgiving&lt;/b&gt; (and maybe even if you don't), when you give thanks,&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;however&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;to whomever&lt;/b&gt; you give thanks, please... do it with some degree of intensity. &lt;b&gt;Make your list&lt;/b&gt;, so that when you say "thank you" it has some weight and mental energy behind it.&amp;nbsp; Someone once said that "love makes the world go round, but it's money that greases the wheels."&amp;nbsp; Personally, I think it's &lt;b&gt;GRATITUDE&lt;/b&gt; that greases the wheels.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have an absolutely incredible day, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Appreciatively yours,&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-6420445133577008433?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/6420445133577008433/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=6420445133577008433" title="2 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/6420445133577008433?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/6420445133577008433?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/11/im-thankful-for-it-all.html" title="I'm Thankful For It All" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;AkMARnc6eip7ImA9Wx5aE0Q.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-5217956701781316646</id><published>2010-11-10T09:14:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2010-11-10T09:14:07.912-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-11-10T09:14:07.912-05:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Help" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="self determinism" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Defining Moment" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Inspiration" /><title>In Your Heart You KNOW I'm Right</title><content type="html">It's hard to believe how much time we -- as a people / country / world -- spend, neck deep in the lives of movie stars, celebrities, public figures, and how much MONEY and wasted time we spend reading, watching, commenting on their lives, and making our judgements -- paying homage to the institutionalized GoSSip industry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If we spent this same time and effort in our own lives, buying and reading things to improve our own lot, enhance our own minds and better our own situations, I dare say we wouldn't have time to care what happened last week with&amp;nbsp; Brittany or Paris whoever...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Become ENGAGED in creating, managing, and enhancing your own life... then you won't need to feed on the gossip from someone else's.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Enjoy another awesome day...&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-5217956701781316646?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/5217956701781316646/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=5217956701781316646" title="12 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/5217956701781316646?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/5217956701781316646?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/11/in-your-heart-you-know-im-right.html" title="In Your Heart You KNOW I'm Right" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>12</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;C08AQ385fyp7ImA9Wx5WGUk.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-4310607080003771134</id><published>2010-10-01T10:04:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-10-01T10:04:02.127-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-10-01T10:04:02.127-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Control Destiny" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="inspirational" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="self help. winning" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="communication" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="appreciation" /><title>This is Why I Write!</title><content type="html">&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Every once in a while we get a vision, a glimpse of  the effect -- or maybe affect -- that we&amp;nbsp;have on people.&amp;nbsp; Goodness knows I enjoy  writing my Ramblings and the other things I write and I usually get some warm  kudos for them, but every once in a while something comes across -- out of the  blue, it seems -- that tells me unequivocally that I'm doing what I'm supposed  to be doing. In this case it happened a couple of days ago, via someone who accidentally stumbled onto this blog, and left an incredible comment that made me grateful that I could be there for her to find.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;I'm going to share an excerpt from the last of her  post, and this is not by way of bragging, but mostly to say that I take  seriously what I write, and I take seriously the responsibility of sharing my  perspectives with my readers, and when I get a comment like the following, I am  incredibly humbled... and that much more careful because I &lt;strong&gt;realize&lt;/strong&gt; my words can have an affect far greater than the concept of just sharing a few thoughts.&amp;nbsp; And you know we talked  about "realizing" in my first Ramblings audio -- &lt;i&gt;which I think we're going to  dub "&lt;strong&gt;K-Talk&lt;/strong&gt;"&lt;/i&gt;.&amp;nbsp;You can listen to that here: &lt;a href="http://ramblings.ringold.net/audio/ramblings1.mp3"&gt;http://ramblings.ringold.net/audio/ramblings1.mp3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;But this comment from an "accidental" visitor...  &lt;strong&gt;This is why I write!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;i&gt;(and now speak)&lt;/i&gt; and I thank  &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; for reading and finding value in my words, and coming back time after  time:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;blockquote dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-right: 0px;"&gt; &lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;I  want to thank you for using your natural gift of empowering and creating  positivity to pass on to me. I feel better right now than I have in weeks, and  you're right, I can get there. I have subscribed to your Once-a-day-vitamin-K  and can't wait! &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thank you Kelvin, for making me see that today isn't an  obstacle but another stepping stone to where I want to be. And that this is  reachable..."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;You can read the whole thing, if you like, here: &lt;a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;amp;postID=1327873966514647269"&gt;https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;amp;postID=1327873966514647269&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Have an awesome day, folks.&amp;nbsp; And  remember...the best way to predict your future, is to create it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Humbly yours..&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Kelvin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kelvinringold.com/"&gt;http://www.kelvinringold.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-4310607080003771134?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/4310607080003771134/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=4310607080003771134" title="3 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/4310607080003771134?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/4310607080003771134?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/10/this-is-why-i-write.html" title="This is Why I Write!" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;C0EFQHc-fCp7ImA9Wx5WEk0.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-1327873966514647269</id><published>2010-09-22T20:26:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-09-22T20:26:51.954-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-09-22T20:26:51.954-04:00</app:edited><title>Daily Dose of Positive Anyone?</title><content type="html">&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Hello, hello, hello...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Are you one of the people who've asked me, "Kelvin... how much would     you charge for a Daily Dose of Positive!? or, "Hey, why don't you     give us something daily..."&amp;nbsp; I received three such requests in the     past two of weeks!!&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Well... Good news!&amp;nbsp; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;          &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Because, beginning on October 16th,2010,     we're introducing our "Daily Dose of&amp;nbsp; Positive!" It might not be     called that exactly, but it'll be close.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
No heavy reading, just short, positive, motivational thoughts,     phrases or ideas -- maybe a picture or poem or link to something     awesome. But, whatever it is, it will be PUMU -- positive, upbeat,     motivational and uplifting (PUMU)!&amp;nbsp; Monday through Friday of each     week...&lt;span style="color: black;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i style="color: orange;"&gt;Your Once-a-Day Vitamin "K"&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;     :-), to lift, encourage or brighten your day!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;TWO cools things:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;          &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1.&amp;nbsp; Everyone who is &lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;currently enrolled&lt;/b&gt; with me (as of     9/22/2010) through Ramblings (&lt;a href="http://www.ramblings.ringold.net/archive"&gt;http://www.ramblings.ringold.net/archive&lt;/a&gt;)&amp;nbsp;     or through&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.intenselypositive.com/"&gt;http://www.IntenselyPositive.com&lt;/a&gt;,     is considered a &lt;b&gt;Charter Subscriber &lt;/b&gt;to Daily Dose of     Positive, and will automatically receive them at no charge.&amp;nbsp; Being a     &lt;b&gt;Charter Subscriber&lt;/b&gt; will also entitle you to other benefits     down the road -- I call them loyalty bonuses -- because YOU are the     long time loyal friends who've watched me grow, stumble, fall and     BOUNCE! You even suffered through my 3-in-the-morning typos and     other g-g-g-oofs, and cheered me on anyhow.&amp;nbsp; You rock!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2.&amp;nbsp; I'd really like to have a larger subscriber base, so to help me     with that goal, &lt;/span&gt;          &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;everyone who enrolls&lt;/b&gt; with me &lt;b&gt;between now       and midnight on October 15th,&lt;/b&gt; 2010&amp;nbsp; via either site, will also     receive our Daily Dose of Positive free... forever&lt;i&gt; (***or at       least as long as I'm living and producing them).&lt;/i&gt;&amp;nbsp; You'll be     PRE_LAUNCH subscribers and your bonus for believing in me early...     is a free, lifetime subscription to Daily Dose of Positive --     provided you don't unsubscribe, of course.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So that's it. &lt;b&gt;WE'RE GOING DAILY&lt;/b&gt;, and I'm excited !!&amp;nbsp; Every morning,     Monday through Friday, a positive, upbeat, motivating, uplifting     thought in your e-mailbox from me...&amp;nbsp; I bet you're feeling better     already !!&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
So, to confirm, you &lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;will &lt;/b&gt;receive Daily Dose of Positive     FREE... FOREVER***&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt; if:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;If you're already subscribed through our &lt;a href="http://www.ramblings.ringold.net/archive"&gt;Ramblings newsletter&lt;/a&gt;         or&lt;a href="http://www.intenselypositive.com/"&gt; Intensely Positive pre-launch site&lt;/a&gt; as of 9/22/2010... you'll         automatically get Daily Dose of Positive. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;                &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;If you want to get the Ramblings Newsletter &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Daily         Dose,&amp;nbsp; and you sign up at &lt;a href="http://www.ramblings.ringold.net/archive"&gt;http://www.ramblings.ringold.net/archive&lt;/a&gt;         &lt;b&gt;before midnight October 15th&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;                &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;If you JUST want Daily Dose of Positive &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;but not regular             Ramblings&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, and you sign up at &lt;a href="http://www.intenselypositive.com/"&gt;http://www.IntenselyPositive.com&lt;/a&gt;         &lt;b&gt;before midnight Octber 15, 2010&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;       &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;     Thank you for your faith and encouragement.&amp;nbsp; I look forward to     serving you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;     Have an awesome day!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;     Kelvin P. Ringold&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;     &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;, Sr.&lt;br /&gt;
Prince of Positive (&lt;a href="http://www.twitter.com/kelvinringold"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;
Really Nice Guy In Liverpool, NY&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-1327873966514647269?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/1327873966514647269/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=1327873966514647269" title="2 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1327873966514647269?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1327873966514647269?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/09/daily-dose-of-positive-anyone.html" title="Daily Dose of Positive Anyone?" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;D0UCSHgycSp7ImA9Wx5WEUs.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-8833173741453967847</id><published>2010-09-22T10:21:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-09-22T10:21:09.699-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-09-22T10:21:09.699-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Control Destiny" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Success" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="manifestation" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="spiritual" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positive attitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Law of Attraction" /><title>Notes from the Universe</title><content type="html">&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;I subscribe to "Notes from the Universe" from&lt;b&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.tut.com/theclub/?a_aid=63b7a2a1"&gt;Tut.Com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, owned by Mike Dooley (of The Secret video).&amp;nbsp; Very good notes, addressed to me by name. I lliked this mornings so I'm sharing it, in large part.&amp;nbsp; Feel free to substitute your name, for mine, and think about what this is saying.&amp;nbsp; If you like them, check them out at &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tut.com/theclub/?a_aid=63b7a2a1"&gt;Tut.Com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;"What&amp;nbsp; if, Kelvin, loneliness was simply a feeling of impatience,&amp;nbsp; telepathically sent to you by friends you've yet to meet, urging you to&amp;nbsp; go out more, do more, and get involved, so that life's serendipities&amp;nbsp; could bring you together... Would you still feel alone?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What if illness was just the signal a healthy body sent to urge&amp;nbsp; clarification of your thoughts, feelings, and dreams... Would you still,&amp;nbsp; at times, think of yours as diseased? &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What if feelings of uncertainty and confusion were only reminders that&amp;nbsp; you have options, that there's no hurry, and that everything is as it&amp;nbsp; should be... Would you still feel disadvantaged? &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What if mistakes and failures only ever happened when your life was&amp;nbsp; about to get better than it's ever been before... Would you still call&amp;nbsp; them mistakes and failures?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
And what if poverty and lack were simply demonstrations of your&amp;nbsp; manifesting prowess, as "difficult" to acquire as wealth and&amp;nbsp; abundance... Would they still cause you to feel powerless?"&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;What if?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Have an awesome day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Kelvin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;blockquote style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-8833173741453967847?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/8833173741453967847/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=8833173741453967847" title="5 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8833173741453967847?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8833173741453967847?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/09/notes-from-universe.html" title="Notes from the Universe" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;AkIMQX05fCp7ImA9Wx5QGUk.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-2971957945153156574</id><published>2010-09-08T08:23:00.015-04:00</published><updated>2010-09-08T08:23:00.324-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-09-08T08:23:00.324-04:00</app:edited><title>Did You Hear What You Said?</title><content type="html">A few days ago, I overhead a conversation between a young man and someone who would be a fan.&amp;nbsp; The young man had just completed what he considered to be a substantial project, and wanted to know if his friend wanted to check it out. His friend was &lt;b&gt;very enthusiastic&lt;/b&gt; about listening, and she said, "I'd love to; I love your work."&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The young man responded with, "Oh, you're very sweet -- &lt;i&gt;delirious,&lt;/i&gt; but sweet..." indicating albeit jokingly that his friend's adulation was misplaced, and that his work wasn't worthy of her considerable regard, but he gave it to her anyway.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A little later, I reflected on that conversation and thought it sad, because the man had a product he was obviously proud of, but at the same time felt a need to denigrate it and put himself down, under the guise of a joke. Simultaneously -- if you really look at it -- he also insulted his friend (you're delirious) because if she liked his work she was obviously unaware.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Now, you might think it was just a cute joke and that he didn't really mean it; or perhaps that he was just being humble. But, for me, it was a perfect example of the kind of &lt;b&gt;negative self talk&lt;/b&gt; we feed ourselves that reflects some inner fear or insecurity and the joking manner makes it almost unnoticeable. When I coach people, I catch such instances of negative self talk and point it out, and people are generally amazed to realize how they just trashed themselves. I just help develop an awareness of the pattern so they can intercept and break it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We tend to think of self talk as the inaudible conversations have inside our heads, but often self talk isn't silent at all, and the audible words are even more damaging than the silent ones; and left unchecked, will continue to work against us and help sabotage our efforts. Many times -- &lt;i&gt;in that way &lt;/i&gt;-- we are absolutely our own worst enemy... and we don't even notice it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In this case, the gentleman... &lt;b&gt;was me, &lt;/b&gt;and I dare say that even the strongest among us has an occasional slip of the tongue and "innocently" bash ourselves.&amp;nbsp; However, it's&lt;b&gt; not&lt;/b&gt; innocent and with careful attention to our audible and inaudible self talk, we can detect it and break these patterns.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In this case, when I realized what I'd done, I sent an immediate email to my friend apologizing for my inadvertent disrespect, and told her that I did indeed value my work -- and her appreciation appreciate of my work -- and thanked her for taking an interest. She thought the apology was unnecessary, and she wasn't offended -- &lt;i&gt;at least not for long.&lt;/i&gt; But I felt much better having noticed and made amends -- to her AND myself -- and in the process made THAT negative habit a bit weaker.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Habits -- the ties that bind.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Listen to your self talk -- all of it. Make an intent to notice what you say to yourself, or about yourself to others, and if you notice yourself saying something negative, &lt;b&gt;reverse immediately&lt;/b&gt;, audibly, and break that habit. &lt;b&gt;Yes... it really is important.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have a awesome day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-2971957945153156574?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/2971957945153156574/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=2971957945153156574" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/2971957945153156574?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/2971957945153156574?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/09/did-you-hear-what-you-said.html" title="Did You Hear What You Said?" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;D0QFR34yfCp7ImA9Wx5QGU0.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-4877781180217956492</id><published>2010-09-07T20:21:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-09-07T20:21:56.094-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-09-07T20:21:56.094-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Life" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="inspirational" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positive attitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>The Trouble Tree</title><content type="html">Here's a nice little story that was passed to me.&amp;nbsp; I do not know who the original author is, but I like what it has to say. Enjoy it.&lt;br /&gt;
==================================================&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse.  After he finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to start.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches&lt;br /&gt;
with both hands.&amp;nbsp; When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;'Oh, that's my trouble tree,' he replied 'I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again.' 'Funny thing is,' he smiled,' when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before'.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
==================================================&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We should all have our own Trouble Tree. Sometimes, just laying our troubles down to tend to themselves for a while, or just putting some distance and breathing room between us and them, they'll seem lighter when we&amp;nbsp; go pick the up next time. Sometimes our perspective changes, sometimes -- after a good night's sleep -- we just start to realize that mountain wasn't as high as we thought it was.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However you practice it... every now and then... just hang your troubles up and forget them. Pick them back up in the morning.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have an awesome day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-4877781180217956492?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/4877781180217956492/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=4877781180217956492" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/4877781180217956492?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/4877781180217956492?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/09/trouble-tree.html" title="The Trouble Tree" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;A0UGRnc4eSp7ImA9Wx5TF08.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-3330649299036212442</id><published>2010-08-02T02:07:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-08-02T02:07:07.931-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-08-02T02:07:07.931-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Help" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="self determinism" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Control Destiny" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Decisions" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="goal setting" /><title>Decisions are Made by Those Who Show Up!</title><content type="html">A powerful statement.&amp;nbsp; It jumped out at me while I was looking over a friend's Facebook page.&amp;nbsp; I count it as one of my great "ah hah!" moments. No matter how strong your idea, or argument, or passion, it has virtually no power if you don't &lt;b&gt;show up&lt;/b&gt; to present it, speak it, defend or promote it. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But that's a big concept that can also be applied even more powerfully in our micro worlds. But in that case, the question becomes, "&lt;b&gt;are YOU showing up..." &lt;/b&gt;to manage &lt;b&gt;your life?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Are you&lt;b&gt; showing up&lt;/b&gt; and making decisions, or just accepting the default decisions made for you by circumstances or other people? Does the morning news or the driver who cut you off on your way to work determine how the rest of your day will go? or &lt;b&gt;do you show up&lt;/b&gt; and take control of your day and your destiny?&amp;nbsp; Are you accepting the default decisions levied by your own procrastination? or &lt;b&gt;are you showing up&lt;/b&gt;... and deciding to actively manage your activities and your life?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I asked myself these questions... and wasn't so impressed with some of the answers.&amp;nbsp; It's so easy -- EASY -- to throw our hands up and say "I can't control that; the decision is made for me..." but if you're reading this, you know better.&amp;nbsp; And maybe that restless, discontented feeling you've been battling lately is because you haven't made the decision ... to make a decision, and you've been waiting for someone else -- some circumstance -- to make it for you and take it out of your hands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If that sounds like you (like it did for me) then, you know what you have to do, right?&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Show up!&lt;/b&gt; Make a decision. It does a body good!&amp;nbsp; Even if it's not the best decision, that's okay. You can always &lt;b&gt;show up&lt;/b&gt; later, and make another decision.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Decisions are made by those who show up!&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; I'm back.&amp;nbsp; Are you with me?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have an awesome day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-3330649299036212442?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/3330649299036212442/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=3330649299036212442" title="5 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3330649299036212442?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3330649299036212442?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/08/decisions-are-made-by-those-who-show-up.html" title="Decisions are Made by Those Who Show Up!" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;C04BQ3w4fyp7ImA9WxFVFE0.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-8190905753157372253</id><published>2010-06-13T00:05:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-13T00:05:52.237-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-06-13T00:05:52.237-04:00</app:edited><title>Who's in Your Front Row?</title><content type="html">&lt;b style="color: white;"&gt;Disclaimer!  This is a repeat, and it's not mine!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b style="color: white;"&gt; &lt;/b&gt;I didn't write it; but I love it. Unfortunately, I can't give credit to who wrote it, because .. I don't know. BUT... it's good stuff, and it's something we all need to think about, so... enjoy.&lt;br /&gt;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Life is a Theater...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Invite your audience carefully. Not everyone is healthy enough to have a front row seat in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a Distance. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not going anywhere relationships or friendships.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention. Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
When you leave certain people do you feel better or do you feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know or appreciate you? The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you....the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Remember that the people we hang with will have an impact on both our lives and our income. And so we must be careful to choose the people we hang out with, as well as the information with which we feed our minds. We should not share our dreams with negative people, nor allow them to feed us with negative thoughts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Who's in your front row?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-8190905753157372253?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/8190905753157372253/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=8190905753157372253" title="2 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8190905753157372253?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/8190905753157372253?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/06/whos-in-your-front-row.html" title="Who's in Your Front Row?" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;D0UMQ387fip7ImA9WxFWE08.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-3642404589843982102</id><published>2010-05-31T12:56:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-31T13:01:22.106-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-05-31T13:01:22.106-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="attitude of gratitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Memorial Day" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="tribute" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="appreciation" /><title>Memorial Day - A Personal Perspective</title><content type="html">I joined the Air Force in 1971 -- graduated from high school in May, and entered basic training on September 13th. It would be a few years before Vietnam wound down.&amp;nbsp; They taught us how to run and climb, how to shoot, how wear gas masks. We knew that we were in the military and might have to fight, but the overwhelming feeling was that odds are we wouldn't -- especially in my career field -- so we could concentrate on getting our education, racking up some GI bill and having a life. But we drilled, we served, we prepared, we supported, all through my 20 years.&amp;nbsp; Less than a year before I retired, the first Gulf War broke out. Certain career fields were held up; retirements / leaves were cancelled. Depending on the career field, some people were even pulled back into service after discharge.&amp;nbsp; I retired on schedule.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Today when people join the military -- especially the Army and Marine Corps -- I don't believe there's that kind of delusion because these two services are first line of defense. If there's "stuff" going on... when they join,&amp;nbsp; they pretty much know they're going to see some combat time.&amp;nbsp; Such is the case with &lt;b&gt;my oldest son, Kelvin&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; He joined the Army in January of 2002 -- less than 4 months after 9/11. Since then he's done two tours in Iraq, and is now serving in Afghanistan. I said initially that he didn't know what he was getting himself into, but he's re-enlisted twice so far, and clearly there was no doubt what the score was when he re-enlisted each time, and he still made that choice.&amp;nbsp; I don't tell him often enough, but I have immense pride and respect for him. &lt;b&gt;I love you, son, and I'm proud of you.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;My baby boy&lt;/b&gt;, Michael, joined the Navy in May of 2004. For sure, he had a whole different mind set than Kelvin, Jr.&amp;nbsp; Michael went in the Navy to grow up... and he's done a lot of that. I'm pretty sure that war zones weren't on his mind at the time, especially since his initial assignment was two years on land in Italy. But he re-enlisted, too. And now he's assigned to one of the Navy's most advanced warships -- a guided missile destroyer. He was on the crew that took it from Bath, ME to commissioning and now officially operational and preparing for it's true mission. So in a couple of months, he'll probably be in one of those zones. It's been interesting watching him grow from the pig-headed teenager into the military man he is today. He complains a bit more than Kelvin Jr, but when it's time to get the job done... he's all Navy. I don't tell him often enough, but I have immense pride and respect for  him. &lt;b&gt;I love you, son, and I'm proud of you.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We all need to have&lt;b&gt; tremendous pride and respect&amp;nbsp; &lt;/b&gt;for anyone who joins any branch of the military today. There's no draft, so everyone who goes in, goes in on purpose.&amp;nbsp; And everyone who stays in, stays in on purpose. There are many among us who would not take up the challenge and the risk of being a military member, but we all benefit from the dedication and sacrifice of the ones who do.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
When you see a military person, &lt;b&gt;say "thank you" like you mean it&lt;/b&gt; -- he or she is a VOLUNTEER.&amp;nbsp; They don't have to be there; they don't have to stay, but they do. They know what the score is, and they do it anyway. And regardless of what you think of the war, you should have pride, and respect and gratitude... for the military man and woman who was -- and is -- willing to voluntarily fight it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
When you make out your gratitude list tonight... be sure to include them on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Have an awesome day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin P. Ringold, Sr, MSgt, USAF, Retired&lt;br /&gt;
Proud &amp;amp; Grateful Parent of TWO Military Men&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-3642404589843982102?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/3642404589843982102/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=3642404589843982102" title="3 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3642404589843982102?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3642404589843982102?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/05/memorial-day-personal-perspective.html" title="Memorial Day - A Personal Perspective" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;CUQDRX87eyp7ImA9WxFXE0U.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-7961302304717155274</id><published>2010-05-20T15:22:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-20T15:22:54.103-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-05-20T15:22:54.103-04:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Help" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Success" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="spiritual" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positive attitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Law of Attraction" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>It's What's  Inside!</title><content type="html">&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Recently, I spent over 13 hours with Dr. Wayne Dyer -- not in person, but it may as well have been. Mother's Day weekend, I drove the 13+ hours round trip to visit my mom in Maryland, and stayed to celebrate my oldest sister's birthday on Monday, and my mom's 82nd birthday on Tuesday. On the drive I listened to Dr. Dyer's &lt;a href="http://www.nightingale.com/prod_detail.aspx?product=Manifesting_Your_Destiny&amp;amp;promo=INTAFF10"&gt;The Secrets to Manifesting Your Destiny&lt;/a&gt; CD set. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;A lot of things caught my attention, but one of the 9 steps he spoke of was developing unconditional love, and after listening to him, I conclude that very few people on the planet are really acquainted with unconditional love -- on either the giving or receiving end. I consider myself to be a very loving person... but I discovered I've got some distance to travel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;He used the metaphor &lt;/b&gt;of a simple orange: "When you squeeze an orange, what happens?" You get orange juice.&amp;nbsp; If you squeeze it hard or soft or with various instruments or devices, does it change?" No; you still get orange juice.&amp;nbsp; "How about if it's hot or if it's cold when you squeeze it?" No difference... it's always orange juice. "Okay, but I squeeze if versus YOU squeezing it, what then?"&amp;nbsp; You still get orange juice, because that's what's inside. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;So it is, he explained, with unconditional love. Unconditional love exists without condition, or return, and is independent of life's circumstances. If you're the orange and someone squeezes you in a negative way, what comes out of you? If someone we're dealing with is kind to us it's easy to love, but when they're not... does our orange juice turn sour? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;When life squeezes us, what comes out? Hate, anger, distrust?&amp;nbsp; Doubt, fear, uncertainty? Whatever is inside of us at the core -- at least me -- is what comes out when we get squeezed and as nice as I (think I) am, some days I'm much better than others. If we need some role models, Dr. Dyer presented some powerful examples of people who -- when squeezed hardest -- their unconditional love came out: Jesus, Ghandi, Buddha, Mother Teresa... and more.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;And insofar as our destiny is concerned... the point he was made was that these negative emotions and feelings -- this orange juice -- sets up a vibration that blocks the abundance and good fortune we seek in our lives, and as the law of attraction goes, we attract what we focus on and have the most energy / emotion for.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;What is coming into your life right now? Whatever it is, is being brought to you by your thoughts and your emotions and by what's inside.&amp;nbsp; If you're happy with that, you're in good shape. If you're not... maybe some introspection is in order.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;The quality of my orange juice isn't as consistent as I'd like it to be, so I'll be working on me even more. I'm a work in progress -- so, don't squeeze me too hard just yet.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Have an awesome day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;Kelvin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="border: 1px solid rgb(174, 183, 219); padding: 10px; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://nightingale.directtrack.com/z/10752/CD214/"&gt;&lt;img align="left" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://www.nightingale.com/siteImages/Products/thumbnail/14590-1.jpg" /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: none;"&gt;In this groundbreaking audio program there’s an amazing, ancient 20-minute technique that will enable you to create anything you want in life, whether it’s love, money, improved health, a better job, or anything else you want or need.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-7961302304717155274?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/7961302304717155274/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=7961302304717155274" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/7961302304717155274?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/7961302304717155274?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-whats-inside.html" title="It's What's  Inside!" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;CkIHR30zeCp7ImA9WxFQGEU.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-9143828168655314692</id><published>2010-05-14T10:11:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-14T19:42:16.380-04:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-05-14T19:42:16.380-04:00</app:edited><title>Develop an Appreciation</title><content type="html">&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Develop an appreciation for all facets in your life -- even the stuff you now consider as crap / garbage / hassle. It is all there to teach you something.&amp;nbsp; To the extent you absorb the lessons, your life will be enhanced.&amp;nbsp; Accept your lessons with gratitude, and you will master your life.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Have an awesome day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Kelvin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-9143828168655314692?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/9143828168655314692/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=9143828168655314692" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/9143828168655314692?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/9143828168655314692?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/05/develop-appreciation.html" title="Develop an Appreciation" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;CEcCRH8_cSp7ImA9WxBXEEg.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-3379984445990146360</id><published>2010-01-21T00:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-21T00:34:25.149-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-01-21T00:34:25.149-05:00</app:edited><title>Handbook for 2010</title><content type="html">I received this in an email.&amp;nbsp; I like it, so I'm passing it on. Don't know if I'll make 100%, but I'll be darned close ;-)&amp;nbsp; Enjoy.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;HANDBOOK 2010 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;u&gt;Health&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"&gt;:  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"&gt;1. Drink plenty of water. &lt;br /&gt;
2.  Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar. &lt;br /&gt;
3.  Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is  manufactured in plants . . . &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"&gt;4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy,  Enthusiasm and Empathy &lt;br /&gt;
5. Make time to pray. &lt;br /&gt;
6. Play more games. &lt;br /&gt;
7.  Read more books than you did in 2009. &lt;br /&gt;
8. Sit in silence for at least 10  minutes each day. &lt;br /&gt;
9. Sleep for 7 hours. &lt;br /&gt;
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk  daily. &amp;nbsp;And while you walk, smile. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Personality&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;:  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;11. Don't compare your life to others.&amp;nbsp; You have no idea what their  journey is all about. &lt;br /&gt;
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot  control. &amp;nbsp;Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. &lt;br /&gt;
13.  Don't overdo. &amp;nbsp;Keep your limits. &lt;br /&gt;
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. &amp;nbsp;No  one else does. &lt;br /&gt;
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip. &lt;br /&gt;
16. Dream  more while you are awake. &lt;br /&gt;
17. Envy is a waste of time. &amp;nbsp;You already have all  you need. &lt;br /&gt;
18. Forget issues of the past. &amp;nbsp;Don't remind your partner of  his/her mistakes of the past.&amp;nbsp; That will ruin your present happiness. &lt;br /&gt;
19.  Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. &amp;nbsp;Don't hate others. &lt;br /&gt;
20. Make  peace with your past so it won't spoil the present. &lt;br /&gt;
21. No one is in charge  of your happiness except you. &lt;br /&gt;
22. Realize that life is a school and you are  here to learn. &amp;nbsp;Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade  away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime. &lt;br /&gt;
23.  Smile and laugh more. &lt;br /&gt;
24. You don't have to win every argument.&amp;nbsp; Agree to  disagree. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Society&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;:  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;25. Call your family often. &lt;br /&gt;
26. Each day give something good to  others. &lt;br /&gt;
27. Forgive everyone for everything. &lt;br /&gt;
28. Spend time with people  over the age of 70 and under the age of 6. &lt;br /&gt;
29. Try to make at least three  people smile each day. &lt;br /&gt;
30. What other people think of you is none of your  business. &lt;br /&gt;
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.&amp;nbsp; Your  friends will. &amp;nbsp;Stay in touch. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Life&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;:  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;32. Do the right thing! &lt;br /&gt;
33. Get rid of anything that isn't  useful, beautiful or joyful. &lt;br /&gt;
34. GOD heals everything. &lt;br /&gt;
35. However good  or bad a situation is, it will change. &lt;br /&gt;
36. No matter how you feel, get up,  dress up, and show up. &lt;br /&gt;
37. The best is yet to come . . . &lt;br /&gt;
38. When you  awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it. &lt;br /&gt;
39. Your Inner most is always  happy.&amp;nbsp; So, be happy. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-3379984445990146360?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/3379984445990146360/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=3379984445990146360" title="2 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3379984445990146360?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/3379984445990146360?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/01/handbook-for-2010.html" title="Handbook for 2010" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry gd:etag="W/&quot;CEYBRX0zeip7ImA9WxBQFk8.&quot;"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11513333.post-1107995951641322655</id><published>2010-01-16T00:48:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-16T01:09:14.382-05:00</updated><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2010-01-16T01:09:14.382-05:00</app:edited><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Self Mastery" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="self image" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="inspirational" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Happiness" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="positive attitude" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Motivational" /><title>A Gift for You for 2010</title><content type="html">This morning, I woke up at about 7:30.&amp;nbsp; Typically, I roll over, look at the clock, take a deep breath, then get up and start &lt;i&gt;doing&lt;/i&gt; something -- coffee, turn on the laptop, walk around the house and find my planner so I can plot my day, kick the cat &lt;i&gt;(just kidding; I don't have any animals -- not even a mouse; yay!)&lt;/i&gt;.... just something besides waste time laying in bed. This morning was different.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This morning, I looked at the clock, took a deep, leisurely breath, turned back over, laid there, quiet, cozy and relaxed. As I did, I noticed the warmth of my bed &lt;i&gt;(I'm probably the last remaining human on the planet with a heated waterbed)&lt;/i&gt; while I listened to the quiet of my house. Sometimes "quiet" has character.&amp;nbsp; I noticed that I was breathing slowly and deeply; and I felt my heart beating, strong but quiet. Then I noticed that I wiggled my toes, and I tuned into that feeling; and felt the blood moving through my system. I felt the texture of the covers on my skin and listened to the soft, rustling sound they made when I moved under them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I opened my eyes and looked around my room and became &lt;i&gt;aware&lt;/i&gt; that I could see things. [Normally we just "see" things, but we really don't take an active appreciation of the process.] The light through my bedroom windows had "life" and substance, and weight, and I contemplated the wonder of eyesight and how that all worked, and considered what magic really happens in my mind and body that allows me to &lt;i&gt;feel&lt;/i&gt; the textures of those covers over me.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Minutes later, the quiet, muffled sounds of street activity seeped through the walls and floated into my consciousness as I heard -- actually felt -- the low vibrations of the distant vehicles driving down my street. Still noticing my breathing, and the textures on my skin, and my skin itself, I enjoyed the awareness that I was alive -- smiling with each new revelation. &lt;b&gt;Was this meditation? &lt;/b&gt;or just relaxation? or what ?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Altogether, I laid there for about 10 minutes -- maybe fifteen -- then got up, and headed for the kitchen to make coffee. I made an aromatic pot of freshly ground "&lt;a href="https://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&amp;amp;stor%20%20eId=10052&amp;amp;productId=566392&amp;amp;catalogId=1&amp;amp;krypto=QJrbAudPd0vzXUGByeatog%3D%3D&amp;amp;ddke%20%20y=http:ProductDisplay"&gt;Vermont Maple Nut Crunch&lt;/a&gt;". I realized tonight -- as I was cleaning up my kitchen -- that the pot was still FULL. After all that, I didn't pour a single cup. That's how relaxed I was when I got up. I forgot I wanted coffee!!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I know what you're thinking... but there was no alcohol or foreign substance of any kind :) involved -- I just turned my attention inward and focused on "me" with new awareness.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/proust.htm"&gt;Marcel Proust&lt;/a&gt; said, "The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes."&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We are often taught, in our society, that it is improper to turn our attention to ourselves. We are taught that turning attention to ourselves is SELFISH. &lt;b&gt;I submit&lt;/b&gt; that that concept is in error. I submit that we NEED to turn some of our attention -- and sometimes ALL of our attention -- inward, to ourselves, in the manner I've described here, so that we can realize what truly magnificent creatures we are -- YOU are.&amp;nbsp; Even the most "messed up" of us.&amp;nbsp; If we spend more time tuning in to the miracle of us, many of our self-image issues will disappear; and this year, I PLAN to spend some time pointing out the miracle of you and helping that happen.&amp;nbsp; But not now -- this post is already longer than I intended, so we'll have to wait until I write more, to hear more.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the meantime, here is a gift you can give to yourself for 2010: WAKE UP, Slow Down, and TUNE In... to the miracle you are, and see yourself with new eyes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
That's it for now.&amp;nbsp; Have an awesome day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelvin&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11513333-1107995951641322655?l=ringoldnet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/feeds/1107995951641322655/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11513333&amp;postID=1107995951641322655" title="5 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1107995951641322655?v=2" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11513333/posts/default/1107995951641322655?v=2" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://ringoldnet.blogspot.com/2010/01/gift-for-you-for-2010.html" title="A Gift for You for 2010" /><author><name>Kelvin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03899852000017443781</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail" width="21" height="32" src="http://www.custom-photogenics.com/graphics/icq_kpr_by_monte.jpg" /></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry></feed>

