Know Magic

Some people believe that achieving happiness is the purpose of
life, yet the pursuit of happiness often leads to unhappiness.
This is because happiness is actually a consequence of a
different life purpose - the pursuit of evolving our souls in
our ability to love ourselves and others.

When achieving happiness is your goal, you might pursue this in
three different ways:

1) You might pursue momentary pleasure, believing that your
happiness is the same as pleasure. When this is your belief, you
might pursue happiness through substances such as alcohol,
drugs, nicotine, or food. Or you might pursue happiness through
activities such as sex, spending or gambling.

2) If you believe that your happiness is attached to money and
the outcome of things regarding money, you might pursue control
over outcomes through spending most of your time working, as
well as accumulating and managing money.

3) If you believe that your happiness is attached to people, you
might pursue control over getting love, approval, attention,
admiration, or acknowledgement.

While momentary pleasure feels good, it is just momentary. Which
means that you need to keep on doing whatever you believe will
bring you happiness, over and over. This is what creates
addictions - the pursuit of what you believe will avoid pain and
bring pleasure. The problem is that none of these pursuits bring
deep and abiding happiness, because their affects are always
momentary.

True happiness is not the result of DOING, but of a way of
BEING. Rather than being a result of the momentary pleasures of
the outside world, it is the result of your intention to evolve
daily as a loving human being.

What does this mean?

This means that ongoing happiness is the result of choosing the
spiritual path of kindness, compassion, understanding, and
acceptance.

Yet it is not enough to express kindness and compassion toward
others. Many have tried this and still end up feeling empty and
angry when the deep happiness they desire continues to elude
them.

The path toward happiness sarts with opening to learning about
what is most loving and compassionate toward YOURSELF. You can
have all the things that people believe will bring happiness -
money, a good relationship, a family, work you enjoy - yet if
you are critical and judgmental toward yourself instead of
accepting and compassionate with yourself, you will not feel
happy.

Imagine a child who seemingly has everything - tons of toys, the
best schools, great vacations, lots of friends. But imagine that
this child has parents who ignore him or her, or who are very
critical, judgmental and controlling of him or her. This child
will not be happy, no matter how many external things he or she
has.

Imagine that this child is you - the feelings within you. How
are you treating this child? How do you treat your feelings? Do
you ignore your feelings and cover them over with substance or
process addictions? Are you judgmental of yourself, constantly
telling yourself that you are not good enough, that you are
inadequate in some way?

Ignoring yourself or judging yourself will always lead to
unhappiness, so matter how much you have in the external world
or how loving you are to others. Until you decide to start
treating yourself the way you want others to treat you, deep and
abiding happiness will elude you. As long as you are treating
yourself the way your parents may have treated you or
themselves, you will continue to feel the emptiness and
aloneness that comes from self-abandonment.

If you want to experience true happiness, then start to pay
attention to your own feelings with a deep desire to learn about
what you are doing or not doing that is causing your pain and
unhappiness. Happiness will be the natural consequence of your
willingness to take full, 100% responsibility for your own
feelings, and learn about and take action regarding what truly
brings you joy,

“If you truly love Nature,

you will find beauty everywhere”
-Vincent Van Gogh

Mud baths are natural products you can use at your home spa.

You are a spa goer and enjoy mud baths at health spas, beauty spas, day spas etc.
Or you are a home spa bather and know something about beneficial properties of mud baths.
One day you decided (or will decide) to try mud baths at your home spa.

While surfing the Internet you can find a lot of mud baths offered by many companies (Moor mud, Dead Sea mud, sea mud etc). But how to choose which one is more suitable and more beneficial for you?

Peloids (mud) history.

Peloids (mud ) treatments and their remarkable revitalizing effects have been known for many centuries and have been successfully used in spas, resorts, clinics all over the world as a natural, effective therapeutic tool.
Scientific researches have proved the therapeutic properties of peloids for many balneological (water therapy) treatments in dermatology and rheumatology and for beauty purposes in cosmetology. Natural biological ingredients of peloids benefit the body and the skin by detoxifying, hormonal-like , anti-inflammatory, anti-bactericidal and bioenergy potency, balancing and harmonizing properties.

There are three main types of peloids in the world.

Saltwater peloids (mud) have high mineral content. Being rich in minerals saltwater peloids are beneficial for the body and skin due to re-mineralizing and nourishing properties.

And there are two types of organic muds with high organic content: Sapropel and Moor muds.
Imagine a substance (enriched with minerals, phyto-hormones, amino acids, enzymes, biostimulators, vitamins) created by Nature for thousands of years with the power to balance, nourish, revitalize!
Both of muds - Sapropel and Moor have been successfully used in clinical and beauty industry for hundreds of years.

But there are also some PROS of mud baths…
PROBLEMS:
Is original mud bathing a smart choice for your home spa?
Yes and No…
Yes, because mud baths have a lot of beneficial components for your body and skin.

No, because a solid phase of muds sticks many beneficial components hardly allowing them to penetrate the skin during bathing.

That is why for proper treatment procedures European spa professionals can use up to 16 kg ( 35 pounds) of original peloids per treatment bath.

Real original peloids consist of many water INSOLUBLE substances which can also PLUG a bathing system so only special facilities are used for peloids procedures.

So first of all, mud should be prepared for proper bathing.

Prepared mud (extracted, filtered, processed, refined) is a better choice for bathing. Scientists have been researching various types of mud extraction to provide main biological substances,increase a bathing efficiency and avoid these problems.

Today you can buy several types of peloid (mud) extracts and add a cup for home bathing. These baths are less or more water-soluble and contain less or more organic and mineral substances ,depending on types of extraction and types of mud. The more substances extracted from mud are, the more complicated and expensive the extraction process is and the more beneficial this extract and this mud bathing is for you.

Have a good and smart Home Spa bath!

Oleg Moskvine
Tonus World Inc.
www.tonusworld.com
© 2001-2004 Tonus World Inc., All Rights Reserved

Oleg Moskvine,MSc.,held the Senior Scientist position of the R&D department of Technofit cosmetic manufacturing company. He has the extensive experience in research, formulation, development, production, marketing and competitive intelligence of natural products.

Oleg has the good expertise in hydrotherapy (balneology, water therapy) treatments with water, mineral salts and mud applications. He is an author of articles about natural products, skin absorption, water therapy, cellulite treatments, body adaptation etc.
Web-site: http://www.tonusworld.com

Joel Turtel, author of “Public Schools, Public Menace: How
Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children,” says
busy working parents can give their kids a quality, low-cost,
private-school education at home using the Internet.

Turtel says, “Internet private schools take most of the burden
off parents’ backs.”

Millions of desperate parents today are appalled at the inferior
education public schools give their kids, but think they have no
where else to go.

Many parents believe that the only alternative to public schools
is either a Catholic or Protestant-affiliated school or
expensive non-religious private school. The problem is that even
Catholic schools now charge an average tuition between $3000 to
$4000 a year. Non-religious private schools can charge between
$7000 to over $14,000 a year.

Millions of low and middle-income parents simply cannot afford
this tuition, so they think they are stuck with public schools.

Turtel says there’s another way. Now parents can give their kids
an excellent private-school education through Internet schools
that cater to K-12th grade students.

Many Internet private schools have low tuition costs, from as
low as $350 a year to $2000 or more a year. Many schools charge
less than $850 a year.

For example, the Clonlara School currently charges about $750
for the 2005-06 school year for a new student in kindergarten
through 8th grade studies. Children get a thorough education in
Reading, Math, History, and many other subjects in the
curriculum, and the school assigns a personal teacher to each
child.

There are dozens of excellent Internet private schools parents
can choose from. Some schools such as Keystone National High
School only offer high-school programs while others offer a
complete, kindergarten through 12th grade education.

Many accredited Internet schools give a course of study similar
to traditional private schools. They take children through a
progressive curriculum in math, science, reading and writing,
history, and many other subjects.

This structured, comprehensive program, in effect, gives
children a personal teacher and private-school education in
their own living room.

This setup is especially helpful for single-working moms, or
families where both mother and father work. Since
Internet-school teachers supervise the child’s education, it’s
less likely that parents have to take time from work or quit
their job to homeschool their kids.

As Turtel says to parents in his book , “You don’t have to
settle for a third-rate public- school education for your
children. You do have alternatives, many excellent, low-cost
alternatives that can give your children a first-rate education
and a rewarding future.”

“Public School, Public Menace” has a whole Resource section
devoted to Internet private schools and many other education
options. The author lists dozens of Internet schools with their
website addresses. Parents can quickly research these schools,
find out if the yearly tuition fits their budget and the
curriculum and teaching methods look suitable for their child.

Want to drive more targeted traffic to your web site?

Want to do it for free?

If you answered “yes” you’re in for a treat. Use the search engine optimization and ranking techniques in this article and you will be well on your way to a front page listing in the major search engines.

Up until now, you’ve been led to believe that search engine optimization and search engine ranking strategies were something better left to an expert. But that’s not true. Any serious marketer can and should learn the simple search engine optimization and ranking techniques that can get his site listed on the first page of the search engines.

Before I begin I want to point out that search engine optimization and ranking strategies fall into two catagories. On page factors and off page factors.

On page factors you have a lot of control over. Things like content, good keywords, and the proper use of anchor text.

Off page factors, like page rank, you’ll have less control over. But it’s important that you exercise as much control as you can over the off page factors as well. These will be discussed in another article.

To get your search engine optimization and ranking strategies right you will need some tools. Some free, some payed. But regardless, if you want your site listed in the top ten results you need these tools.

Search Engine Optimization and Ranking - Tools of the Trade

To begin with, I’m not a big believer in throwing money after unnecessary tools or ebooks. After all, if you bought all the tools some gurus recommend it could easily run into hundreds and even thousands of dollars. So rest assurred, what I recommend are the bare essentials of what you will need to get it right.

The first tool you need is free. At least for now. It’s the Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool. You can find it at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

You will use this tool for your keyword research. Let’s say you plan to build a site on dog grooming. Type dog grooming in the suggestion box, click the arrow, and a list of related keywords come up. It also tells you how many searches were conducted on Overture and it’s related sites for the past month. This is valuable information as it tells you which keywords are worth persuing and which don’t get enough searches to be worthwhile. You will want to print out or create a file to store these keywords on your computer because you’re not finished with them yet.

The next tool you need is Wordtracker. Although it’s not free, it is one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal. This tool is not expensive as you can order it for short time frames. Twenty four hours usually runs about $7.00 U.S.

Wordtracker takes your keyword research to the next level. For instance:

find all keywords that bear any relation to your business

tells you how popular the keywords really are in multiple search engines

shows you your chance of making the top ten

shows you the number of times the keyword or phrase has appeared in the data base

shows mispellings on searches that you can capitalize on

shows the number of competing sites

prints out a complete list of selected keywords with KEI analysis, count, hits in 24 hours, and number of competing sites.

This valuable tool will save you countless hours of trial and error trying to find the best keywords and phrases to land you in the top ten.

I once built a site based solely on results from the Overture suggestion tool. To my dismay I had few visitors. When I checked the keywords and phrases with Wordtracker, I found a completly differnt story. Wordtracker showed much lower figures for the keywords I was using from Overture. When I revamped the site using Wordtrackers results I found the search results to be much more accurate.

So use the Overture suggestion tool to get a preliminary set of keywords, then, check them with Wordtracker to identify the best keywords and phrases to build your site around.

Build Your Site Around Search Engine Optimization and Ranking Techniques

When I built my first site I used a cheap software program I purchased from my local office supply store. Needless to say, it was never listed in the search engines. I had little control over the appearance and more than likely it did what it wanted, not what I wanted. So if you intend to build a serious web site to get traffic and make money, stay away from them.
I currently use NoteTab Pro. it’s relatively easy to use and gives you a lot of flexibility. Plus it’s relatively inexpensive.

If you are looking for a less expensive way to go I recommend Notetab light. Download a free copy here http://www.notetab.com. Although not as flexible and easy to use as NoteTab Pro, it will get the job done.

Search Engine Optimization and Ranking Power Points

You’ve researched and selected your keywords and phrases. Where do you use them for the best search engine optimization and ranking?

Power Point #1.This is one of the best secrets I can give you. Consider each page of your site to be a doorway into your site. Therefore optimize one keyword or keyword phrase for each page of your site. Many people try to cram multiple keywords into a page. This only confuses the search engines and hurts your rankings.

Power Point#2. Keep your site keywords and pages focused on a common theme. For example: If you have a site about dog grooming, Every page on the site should relate to dog grooming. If you were to ad a page about training your pet snake it wouldn’t fit the theme. So keep all your pages tightly focused on the overall theme of your site. Getting off theme will hurt your rankings.

Power Point #3.Content is king. Give the searh engines what they want and they will give you what you want. A good listing. What they want are highly relevant sites for their search customers with good, valuable content. Methods to trick the search engines are abundant. But when they catch up with you, you’ll be penalized or worse, possibly banned. You don’t want that.

Power point #4. Sprinkle your secondary keywords and phrases throughout your content. When you researched your keywords you came up with a list of primary words and phrases to optimize your pages. You should also have an additional 50 - 100 keywords and phrases that I will call secondary keywords. If you sprinkle these throughout your page it will give you a big boost in the search engines. You’ll be amazed at how many visitors you will recieve from these secondary keyword searches.

Where To Use Your Primary Keywords To Get The Most Impact For Your Search Engine Optimization and Ranking Efforts

Keyword placement, density and proximity are the most important factors when it comes to on page search engine optimization and ranking strategies.

Domain name: Although unproven, some search engine optimization experts recommend your site domain name be your primary keyword or phrase. If I can get a domain with my primary keyword fine. If not, i just try to get a good related name. If you do get a domain with your primary phrase, be sure to seperate the individual words with hyphens. Some search engine optimization experts are now saying that Google can read the keywords even if they are not seperated. I prefer to play it safe and use hyphens. For example: doggrooming.com would be dog-grooming.com. Done this way the search engines can read the individual words.

Page title. It’s best to use your keyword or phrase once in the title of your page. Try to keep it short. Google uses a weighting factor based on the number of words in the title. The more words you use, the less weight each word has. A word of caution here. Don’t just use your keyword phrase. Google will likely consider this spamming and penalize you. Using the same keyword more than once is worth testing, but many experts believe it can hurt your rankings. Try to come up with a good title as this is what your prospects will see on the search engines.

The discription: Again, don’t over use your keyword in your discription. Once or twice is enough. Some search engines will use your discription in their listings so try to develop one that will make the searcher want to click on it.

Heading tags: Header tags are the HTML tags used to make text bigger. Typically they are used for headlines and sub heads. Some search engines use them to determine what a page is about. So try to use your keyword or phrase in your header tags.

Anchor text: This is the text used in a link. When you are linking from one page on your site to another make sure you use your keywords in the link. A good example is your home page. Most people simply put the link as “home.” Instead use website promotion strategies home. Get the idea.

Body copy: Try to use your keyword as often as you can in your body copy without sounding repetitive or being obvious. If it doesn’t sound right, it’s probably to much. Work it in wherever it fits. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to keyword density. Most experts agree that around 7% density is a good figure to shoot for. Avoid continuously repeating the keyword every two or three words. This is considered spamming.

Alt text: This is text used in place of images for those with text only browsers. It also pops up when you hold your mouse over an image. Because search engine spiders can’t read graphics, the alt text tells the spiders what the graphic is. So discribe the graphic but include your keyword.

URL’s: When using URL’s to link your pages together be sure to use your keywords in the link. Just as in the case of domain names, use hyphens to seperate the words so the spiders can read them.

We’ve covered a lot in this article. I’ve given you information that cost me a small fortune to acquire. We covered the tools and editors you will need to do the job right. I gave you power points that most search engine optimization experts don’t want you to know. Then we looked at the on page factors you can control to maximize your search engine optimization and ranking efforts. Keep in mind, this is only half of the equation. There are still off page factors that have a major impact on your search engine optimization strategies.

Guy Ray is a copywriter and certified search engine optimization specialist who specializes in website promotion and online marketing strategies. Are you getting all the traffic you need?
Click here now! http://www.website-promotion-strategies.com

So what exactly should you look for when looking for a credit or charge card?

Shop around for the credit card offer that best fits your needs. Don’t pay high annual fees if your FICO credit score is good, as there are plenty of card issuers out there who want you as a customer and are willing to waive an annual fee. And if your credit score isn’t so good, what are you doing applying for another credit card anyway? Stop that!

Make sure you take the time to understand a plan’s terms before you accept the card. You need to read the fine print. You need to know what you are expected to be responsible for, as well as what the introductory interest rates will do when you actually begin carrying a balance on the card. Beware of the universal default clause many consumers are finding on their credit card agreements; this clause could mean that a late charge on one account could hike the interest rate you’ll pay on another credit card — even if you’ve never missed a single payment to that particular company in the past! Not all companies are doing this, but be aware of and stay away from those that do.

Hold on to all receipts — no matter how small or trivial — to reconcile your card charges when your monthly bill arrives. Use a large 9″ x 12″ manilla envelope to hold all receipts, and if there is a curious entry in your credit card statement, you’ll have the proof to dispute the charge. If there are no inaccuracies, then shred those little receipts if they are not needed for taxes (check with your tax accountant or tax preparer for exact legal advice on this matter).

Always make it a top priority to protect your credit cards and account numbers to prevent unauthorized use. Identity theft is on the rise, and you’ve just got to get careful who gets ahold of your credit. It’s a good idea to draw a line through blank spaces and/or lines in sales contracts so other charges cannot be entered there. Shred copies. Keep credit cards in safe place (wallet or purse).

If you hand your debit card to an employee in a business, watch that you are not a victim of “skimming” — the practice of running your card through twice, and them pocketing that second charge with cash out of the register. The skimmer extracts private encoded data directly off of your card, everything needed to create a counterfeit card. A skimmer device can capture card data from multiple, perhaps a hundred, individual credit cards. After that information has been stolen by a skimmer, it is very easily downloaded into a computer and e-mailed to any other location.
Experts point out that worldwide credit card skimming losses exceed $1 billion a year. And that figure is growing, so be careful you’re victimized by such a scam.

These days, most stores now have the terminal facing the consumer so you don’t actually ever let go of your credit card. And that could be good advice: Don’t actually ever let go of your credit card! Period!

It helps in an emergency to have a written record, tucked away in a safe place, that contains all your credit cards, including account numbers, expiration dates, name and address and telephone numbers of the issuers, and credit limits and passwords on each. This allows you to report a stolen or lost credit card quickly and keep your money and your valuable credit safe and secure.

Only carry the credit cards you actually use. If you carry more than one — perhaps one for work, one for personal uses — that’s probably more than enough to get you through the day. If you leave your department store charge card at home, then when you are at the shopping mall, and you find something that you’re really not sure you want — but if you’d had the charge card you would have bought — you’ll be saving money, and closet space, by leaving that item at the store!

Steve Johnson, publisher of http://www.FindHow2.com — a growing collection of “how to” articles on topics like credit repair, debt consolidation and refinancing mortgage loans — can be reached at fixyourcreditreport@gmail.com.

Why do you take pictures? I was recently in discussions on a photographic forum about the reasons. We were reviewing images sent in by the members. There was a lot of constructive criticism which was very useful. But the discussions revolved around producing the best images and how to improve failing ones.

Quite frankly, some images were being castigated as not only not good enough, but also not right for uploading to the online gallery.

How silly.

I am a strong believer that the worth of any image is totally depended on the perception of the person who takes it. It doesn’t matter about the quality so much, although, clearly, this is an important factor.

Some people take photographs for the emotional context. Images can remind you of times gone by, of childhood memories. They can remind you of a special occasion, an unforgettable trip and, particularly, a special person.

Searching through past images can bring a certain time and / or place to life. It can be a chance to relive memories that would otherwise be lost in time. Images can evoke laughter, tears and feelings of love. They can transport you to another world and era. Not many things can do that.

A friend I was taking to had some images online. There were nice but not outstanding. But for him, they evoked feelings and memories of a time and a place that was special and had a certain import for him. He was able to recount the story of why he took them. There was no talk of f-stops, apertures and ISO settings. No lens judgements or white balance discussion. They were his memories but the sharing of the story behind the images could be shared and felt by all. Just like the story behind an old antique.

Make your photography your own. By personalising it you will still be able to improve but you will retain those special connections with each image. The power of those connections can be as valuable as the images themselves.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com