News and ArticlesSeptember 30, 2008 8:21 am

Why is it so difficult to keep the juices flowing in a relationship? Why does the momentum of the relationship fade away? Is it inevitable that after some years the initial freshness turns into devastating boredom? Or worse, that two people who were first lovers end up hating and destroying each other? Real love is supportive. Love yourself, love your dream, love your mission, love your life, and surely enough, a wonderful person will show up and love you even more.

Why do so many relationships fall into monotony after a while, ending up like crumpled leaves hanging from a dead tree? Why is it so difficult to keep the juices flowing? Why does the momentum of the relationship fade away? Is it inevitable that after some years the initial freshness turns into devastating boredom? Imagine a blossoming, appetizing, juicy red-and-yellow peach, and then see it transform into a dark-brown, wrinkled, dried-up prune. Where did the freshness go? Where did the juice go? Where did the life go? The envelope is still there, the outside still exists, but inside there is nothing left: no more life, no more pleasure, no more fun, no more love, only vinegar. In the beginning of a relationship, the juices flowing through your body are boosted up by the attention and interest of that significant other. Everything looks great, you’re blossoming, even your body is “filled up” by the other’s attention for you.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 29, 2008 3:50 am

Friendship and friends continue to remain central to our lives. The relationship that we share with our friends is grounded in a mutual concern as our friends help us in shaping up our personalities as well. Even in this age of online social networking and ecards, the need of expanding the network of friends, whether online or offline remains a primary concern for people. We may have a very vague understanding of what makes a friend but we all want to have a good many number of friends around us.

Research has shown that the quality and nature of your friends are one of the key influencing factors in achieving happiness, self esteem, and satisfaction. Friends often affect the health and energy of a person as well. More and more people are increasingly turning towards their friends for support and mutual sharing rather than communicating to their relatives; and this sociological phenomenon has escalated the desire to make more friends. Though friendship is an impulsive relationship developed between two autonomous individuals marked by a voluntary, emotional and mutual concern, but there are certain steps, which, if implemented can win you friends or at least help you get close to those whom you want to make your friends.

The first step to make friends with someone is to make them like you. If they don’t like you in the first place, it is unlikely that they’ll be eager to become your friends. To let someone know that you are genuinely interested in them, simple gestures like a little smile and calling him by his name can lay the basic foundation. To make the other person feel important you need to be a good listener and encourage the other person to talk. Give your honest and sincere opinion but do not overtly criticize or make fun of him or her.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 25, 2008 10:14 am

Friends are a gift of God. If we have good friends, we should assume that God has showered us with His unlimited grace. What does a good friend mean? What are the differences between ordinary friends and good friends? What is friendship?

Let us begin our enquiry by asking about what is friendship? Can it be defined? What is the relationship of friendship? What qualities does this relationship have? When two persons share common interests, care for each other, enjoy being together and help each other, they are called as friends. Is this a correct definition? It broadly covers the areas of friendship.

For being a good friend, we should share more of these qualities. Is that right? Say, you share some interests with your friend, and there are few things that interest you, but are of no interest to your friend. Does this make your friendship ordinary? Sit back and count your good friends. Now count the interests that you share and those that you don’t. Is there any mathematical formula? Can one be a good friend, even if one shares very few interests? Provided of course, that our qualities that I mentioned above are in plenty?

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News and ArticlesSeptember 24, 2008 4:14 am

Friendship with the opposite sex can turn into a romantic relationship. It is a very sensitive situation. Taking care in these moments is a must. Here are some rules that should always be kept in mind.

Friendship is a special bond that often blooms into a romantic relationship with the opposite sex. It does not happen always but when it happens it is a sensitive situation. You need to take care in this situation.

 

Know his heart before you own it

Friendship helps you know him even before you make him your own. Remember that although he is so like you, he is not. He may have his own point of view and respecting each others’ viewpoint is the best way to become more intimate.

Compromise is a strict no no!

Respecting his viewpoint does not mean compromising on your own beliefs. Do not compromise your own principles to please him. Remember this relationship is worth a lifetime. So love him only if he deserves you. A strong personality and determined attitude is what presents a woman in the right light. Men definitely prefer sensible women.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 22, 2008 4:55 am

Bamboo is a symbol of strength, fortitude, and rapid growth in Chinese culture. Lucky Bamboo, as it turns out, isn’t bamboo at all. The Lucky Bamboo plant is actually the Dracaena sanderiana, a member of the lily family, and grows in shaded areas of the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia and Africa.

The basic principle of Feng Shui is to bring the natural elements of earth, water, air, fire, and metal in balance with the environment. Lucky Bamboo is said to be a thriving example of the elements of wood and water and when tied with a red ribbon or string, the element of fire is drawn in. Fire is believed to increase the positive flow of energy or chi into a room.

When given as a gift, Lucky Bamboo is said to be at its luckiest. It is especially popular as housewarming gifts and for the opening of a new business. If you purchase Lucky Bamboo for yourself, think of it as a gift to the home.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 18, 2008 4:38 am

Are you lucky? Really, do you feel like you’re a lucky person? Not lucky in the sense that you have a good, or even a great, life, but lucky in the sense that things just seem to fall into your lap?

Whether you are lucky or not, you probably think that luck is just random, that people stumble into good things by accident. You may have heard that luck is “preparation meeting opportunity,” but how then do you explain a mere acquaintance calling you with free tickets to a show you’ve been wanting to see, but couldn’t afford?

What if luck isn’t random after all? What if there is actually a structure underlying luck? Ten years of research by Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertforshire, England suggests exactly this. His research shows that luck is largely composed of four capacities:

1) Creating and noticing chance opportunities. You have to be out in the world, and you have to be relaxed enough to actually notice them.

2) Making lucky decisions by paying attention to your intuition. There is much more happening around us than we can ever grasp in our conscious minds. But beneath our conscious awareness, we are picking up all sorts of cues and clues to what is happening, which we call intuition.

3) Creating self-fulfilling prophecies by having positive expectations. When you expect things to go well, you will unconsciously pick up the cues that match what you expect – you’ll see it when you believe it.

4) Adopting a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good. Lemons can be made into lemonade. You can learn from the worst disaster. If you’re always looking for the silver lining in the dark cloud, which is often a life lesson to apply going forward, your luck will improve continuously.

Other research of Professor Wiseman suggests that luckier people tend to have wider social networks than less lucky people. This is a kind of virtuous cycle. When you look at the first capacity above, you’ll notice that you have to be out in the world to be in the right place at the right time. Thus, if you want to be lucky, it’s a good idea to cultivate wide enough social networks that you’re frequently out of your cave and in the lucky zone. And how can your social network do anything but expand when you have positive expectations and a resilient attitude? Those vibes are bound to draw people to you.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 17, 2008 9:55 am

Are you looking to have a little more "luck" in your life? Perhaps you’d like be more often in the right place at the right time, get globs of intuitive hunches, navigate the cross currents of life more skillfully. Perhaps you’d like to be taken away on a magic carpet ride, complete with the wind at your sails and doors opening for you each step of the way.

If you desire this, consider developing "Intuitive Magic."

The intuitive part of "Intuitive Magic" is the receiving of guidance from spirit. I was looking to sell my house. I had very few buyers looking at it. Suddenly in the fourth month of it being on the market, I had this "hunch" now was my window of opportunity to sell it. I called my realtor and said, "Lower the price." I figured the market had deteriorated so rapidly, the best way to get a sale was a further price reduction.

Later the same day, before the price was lowered, I received notice a buyer was coming to view my home. This buyer, the first one in six weeks, had the same first name as mine and fell in love with my home! A deal was made because I was ready to lower my price. I knew through a "hunch" I should lower it or lose the chance to sell for a long while.

The magic part of "Intuitive Magic" is the ability to create and shape your reality according to your wishes, dreams and needs. I had a buyer for my home, but suddenly the deal turned financially adverse for me. I summoned up some magic and commanded the universe make the deal "fair." Even though I was told there was no way the buyer would agree to new terms and conditions for the deal, like magic it was accepted!

The main way to have more "Intuitive Magic" in your life is through the R-A-R-E formula. R-A-R-E stands for Relax, Ask, Receive Entirely.

Relaxing is meditation. There are various ways to meditate. Spirit presented to me an easy speed meditation, which should serve to get you in contact with the mind of the universe almost instantly. If you have no time or have trouble clearing your mind, this technique should help quite a bit.

Close your eyes and look at the inside of your eyelids. Yes, you heard right. Stare at the inside of your eyelids. This creates an almost instantaneous alpha brain wave state. The reason for this is that the right brain works visually so using your eyes to focus shifts to right brain usage. This side of your brain is the doorway for communicating with the world of spirit.

Once in this state you need to "Ask," well actually, command (in a nice way of course :) something. You are either going to command information if you need guidance from an omniscient source, or you are going to command a manifestation if you need money, love, a health cure or a solution of any sort.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 16, 2008 5:04 am

Are you lucky in life? (Really, do you feel like you’re a lucky person?) I don’t mean that you have a perfect life, but do things just seem to always work out for you? Do seemingly negative situations end up turning into something better? Do great opportunities simply fall into your lap? Do you meet (attract) the right people in your life? If so, then you are truly a lucky person, if not, you can quickly increase your good fortune.

I hadn’t thought much about luck until a few days ago, I was at a coffee shop with a buddy of mine. Sitting deep in an overstuffed blue chair, I listened to him talk about how lucky my life is. I never really thought about it before, but he was right. I put down my cinnamon scented coffee and nested back into my chair, taking in and trying to digest his compliments.

Later when I mentioned that I need to find a topic for my newsletter this month, he immediately said, “Why don’t you write about how to be a lucky person!” I chuckled to myself, because I would have never thought about that in a million years, but it intuitively felt so right. I knew that the Universe had just winked at me with a confirmation.

He said, “goodbye”, gave me a hug and left his empty ceramic cup still dripping with foam next to my chair. All around me, the coffee shop conversations were mumbling in my ears. I quietly sank deeper into my chair and started to type. I must have been in a trance, because with only one refill the article poured out of my Soul and onto my laptop. I wrote the first draft in less than two hours.

Whether you believe you are lucky or not, most people think that luck is not real or at best a random activity that can’t be chosen or developed. You might think that people stumble into good things by accident. How then do you explain when a friend calls you at the last minute with free tickets to a sold out show you’ve been dying to see? Or when you turn around to quickly drive back home, because you “forgot something” and a long lost friend is standing at your door, but had no way to contact you except to stop by and hope you’d be home. Is this coincidence or something much more magical?

I believe becoming a lucky person is easy when you understand the characteristics of these blessed people. Imagine for a moment that luck isn’t random after all! There is an attitudinal structure underlying every fortunate human being. And anyone who is wiling to change their mental-emotional habits can increase their good fortune and become lucky. Years ago, I read an article about some University research from England. The studied showed what naturally lucky individuals have in common with each other. They discovered a set of four qualities that set them apart from the “unlucky”. The cool thing is that people who developed these attitudinal qualities started to increase their own good fortune very quickly!

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News and ArticlesSeptember 15, 2008 3:45 am

We all want to be happy but very few of us consistently are. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, depression will be second only to heart disease in terms of global illnesses. Our happiness, when it occurs, is usually the result of outside events, such as when someone is kind to us, or when some opportunity is presented to us. That state of mind is fleeting. Our goal should be to be happy no matter what happens to us.

People whose happiness is not dependent on what happens to them actually bring happiness to their experiences rather than trying to get it from them. They still have bad emotions but experience an underlying state of peace and well-being. They have a sense of lightness or buoyancy, feel love and compassion for themselves and others, feel passionate about their life and purpose, have a sense of flow and openness, feel alive, vital, and energetic, are at peace with life, and are fully present in the moment.

Unfortunately it takes conscious effort to become happy. Our minds are wired to be fearful. We are much more likely to notice and remember something that frightens us than something that brings us joy. This works well under very bad circumstances, but with the constant barrage of stresses seen in modern times, most people’s dominant way of thinking has become one of being on guard for trouble. In addition, our egos, which are just a collection of beliefs about who you are based on your past experiences, are always afraid of death. Being consistently happy doesn’t come easily. Like most worthwhile things, it requires a lot of effort in order to achieve it.

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News and ArticlesSeptember 12, 2008 2:02 am

You can call it good luck, or cause and effect, or whatever you want. But you know that some people have more good things happen in their lives, and more happy surprises. What you may not know is that there are things you can do to be more like them and so be luckier yourself. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Don’t Take Advice From Your Fears

Letting fear make decisions is a bad habit that is sure to get in the way of having more luck in your life. Acting from fear also sabotages your self-growth. Did you know that Johnny Carson had stage-fright every night before he went on the air? He stepped out there anyhow, and enjoyed doing the Tonight Show for decades. Fear is just a feeling. Move forward despite it.

Relaxed Goal Setting

Committing yourself to specific goals too soon can backfire. This is because a goal has to be seen in context of all our other goals and values. For example, when I used to write down specific financial targets, I accomplished them, but I made myself miserable doing so. Many people find that they are happier if they take a clear direction, and then let the goals formulate themselves in time. Setting goals and writing them down is a powerful way to make progress, but it’s up to you to decide when specific goals are appropriate.

Breath Deep

Take several deep breaths through your nose from time to time. Close your eyes, pay attention to your breathing, and let the tension drain from your muscles while doing this. This is like a mini-meditation.

Mouth-breathing expands your chest, but if you breath through your nose you’ll notice how your abdomen extends. You see, nose-breathing causes the diaphragm to pull air to the bottom of your lungs. This delivers a good dose of oxygen into your bloodstream and brain. It also tends to relax you. Relaxed and thinking better - that’s a recipe for good luck.

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