All Things Pondered Here

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learning

Benefits Of One-On-One English Instruction

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Here are some of the benefits of personalized English instruction over all the class room offers out there:

  1. Being the only student in the room, the sole focus is on YOUR improvement
  2. We work on what you need
  3. Lessons are more customized

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Sole Focus Is On Your Improvement

Probably the biggest benefit is that all of the teacher’s focus is on your improvement.   There aren’t 4 other students in the room with each at their own level and with their own needs. You get all of the focus.

If you spend an hour in a classroom with 3 or 4 (or more) other students you’ll spend most of your time listening and not practicing your own skills.    The teachers attention is divided among 3 or 4 other people (at least).

With 1-on-1 instruction, you get to ask all the questions and you get to have all of the practice.   There are only two people in the room, you and me.

My focus will be on your sole improvement for the entire lesson! I can hear what you say and correct it.   This is the fastest way to improve when compared to multi-student class rooms.

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We Work On What You Need

Here is another benefit.  I will always have something for us to work on.   However, maybe you have something specific for your work, school or social life that needs particular attention.

Since you are the only student, the sole focus is on what you need.   You would never be able to have that sole focus in a classroom with 3 or 4 other students. It wouldn’t be fair to dominate the class time that way.   The other students probably wouldn’t put up with it either. In the 1-on-1 instruction scenario, the entire time can be devoted to your specific work, school or other needs.

For example,  maybe you have a presentation at work that you must give in English.   Maybe you have a report or presentation due at school. When you are the only student it is easy for you to get the time to work on what you need.   With other students in the room, that just wouldn’t be  possible.

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Lessons Are More Customized

In addition to you having the ability to get what you urgently need worked on,  I can also customize my lessons towards your needs.

For example,  If I know that you need work in a particular area (such as “Th” sounds),  I can tailor the lesson for those needs.

I’ll be able to see what we need to work on and focus more on those areas.   All of this combines to give you more rapid progress. There is nothing better than learning from a native speaker, except getting one-on-one time with that native speaker!

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-David

Are The Answers Really Out There?

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Do You TRUST That The Answers Are Out There?

ready to challenge your own perceptions? I was thinking about my post yesterday on running into brick walls in life this morning.   I think there is more to say on this topic.

The question is:  Do You Believe The Answers For You Are Out There?

Easy To Say,  Hard To Do

This question sounds very simple on the surface, but it is actually a very complicated question.   Your personally answer to this question is likely to be more complicated than you might want to initially believe as well.

A belief is not something you can just decide on once.  As soon as you say you want to believe something, there will often be doubts that spring up.  They will keep springing up over and over again too.

You can’t just squash them once.  You have to monitor your thoughts and alter your thinking over and over again.

If you don’t run into the problem that I just mentioned, it could be that you are believing in the wrong things.  This last sentence belongs in the ‘difficult to explain’ category.   But some people will immediately understand what I am talking about.   Just think about it more and you may see it.

Changing our thinking is indeed very important.  However, changing it in the right direction is infinitely more important.   If you alter your mind to accept wrong principles and you hurt people as a result, the consequences end up being severe.  Perhaps the even go beyond, fines,  incarceration and loss of liberty?

There Is Enough Anecdotal Evidence

There is plenty of evidence that you mind can affect your life in major ways.   The experiences of many people, both personal and from the perspective of an observer have been well documented.

One notable example that come to mind are the work of Dr. Bernie Siegel.   He was a surgeon who discovered that what his patients thought had a LOT to do regarding whether their cancer would go into remission or not.

He found that more self centered people, when they changed their mindset to a more compassionate loving one, would often find their cancer disappeared. (remission).    That is truly amazing.  He has written several books on the topic and you can read as many of them as you want.

Many similar stories from other sources exist.   There are remarkable stories that document the influence of our state of mind and our thoughts on our bodies and even our lives.

There are also stories that show the opposite effect.   Perhaps you have heard of a story about someone being told they had cancer when they actually did not.   Upon death,  an autopsy shows that there is not cancer.  So, what did the person die of then?   Bad thoughts?

Is Positive Thinking The Answer?

I’m not a big proponent of ‘positive thinking’.   I am certainly against negative thinking though, as it does little good.   The only time that type of  thinking is helpful is when you need critical thinking skills.

However, negative thinking in general, at best, does not help.   On the other hand, it is easy to see that it can do a great deal of harm.    So you might as well nix the negative garbage now.

If you are going to talk about ‘positive thinking’ it needs to be the long term kind.  Not the superficial kind that is easy to lose site of.

As  Voltaire alluded to in his literary work, Candide, You MUST weed the garden of your mind.   Failure to do so can be disastrous.

As I mentioned above, it appears to me, and I hope you agree by now, that simple positive thinking is not the right answer.  You must work on your thoughts and alter your ‘state of mind’.  That can take work and time to really do.   You have to be on your guard against the negative all of the time!

About That Brick Wall

As I talked about before.  You have to trust that the answers are out there.  Otherwise, how can you ever find them?

We are so tiny when you think about the size of our planet, our solar system, our galaxy and finally: the Universe.   Despite all of the evidence right in front of your eyes, are you able to believe that the Universe is a fundamentally good and intelligent?

Do you trust that as you focus on good that you can find your way through the darkness and around your personal brick walls?    I suggest reading Zhuan Falun.   It’s a book that I have read many times.   Perhaps it is just what you need to view the Universe in a different way?


Google

Email – Are You Staying In Touch With Your Customers and Clients? The Right Way?

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common sense email marketingEmail Marketing Is Still Important

You cannot afford to neglect your customers.   Hopefully, you have a way to stay in touch with them.   If you don’t overdo it and provide good useful information or witty insight, it can work out well and earn repeat business for you.

Customers need to be reminded that you are out there, just not too often.

Sometimes an email from you will spark the remembrance that they were just thinking that they needed  one of your products or services.

When your business hits some slow times, you can often send out an email and receive business as a result.   Again, you cannot do this improperly or that reward won’t be there.  Don’t listen to all the hype about email marketing out there.  Much of it not of value..

Much depends on how often and how well you interact with your customers.

One small irritation can cause them to go away forever.   This is how it is with customer service.  Your email list is part of your customer service.   You have to use it well.

Case In Point

There are plenty of Internet marketing gurus out there.  I don’t respond well to their marketing anymore.  This is because I have been ripped off by many of them too many times.  I stay on their lists to see what they are up to.  Maybe they will come up with some piece of obscure information that will be helpful to me.   Occasionally, I still get scammed by them.

The problem is you don’t want to be like them.  They rely on the massive size of email lists and they don’t really care about how they treat their subscribers.  They are good at replacing subscribers.

Many people will fall for a good story.   If the stories were true it would be great.  They just know what works psychologically on people and that is very sad.

The key point is, don’t be like them.  You may not have a massive email list – probably because you won’t lie to get people to flock to you!    And that is a good thing!  It shows you are honest.

I do believe there are ways to earn an honest living on the Internet by providing an honest service or product in exchange for fair value.

Is it harder to be honest?  You bet it is,  but at the end of each day and in the final moments of your life, you will be content and happy.    The bad people are the ones who cannot rest easy and when their last breath is drawing near, they will be nervous and anxious because they know in their heart that they have not done the right things.    And if they are really oblivious, perhaps they will find out ‘after’ they pass that they made many mistakes.   I bet that won’t feel good either!

Be An Honest Marketer

It’s definitely harder to run an honest business.   No doubt about it.   Sometimes the harder path is the most rewarding, however.

If you act in an above board way and work well with your customers, it will be difficult to fault you.  That alone could open more doors and opportunity for you.

Think about all those ‘big name’ marketers out there?   What do you think about when you hear their name?     You definitely don’t want to be in that slot.   It doesn’t matter how rich they are, it just is not worth it.
Of course, for the person who makes money their master, they probably won’t really care about what I’m saying here.  They will probably even attack me for saying it, as they know deep down inside they have not done right by others.

 

I didn’t mean to turn this into a morality pep talk, but it looks like it somehow went in that direction.

Just be good…  Even if it is harder…

Email marketing can work  for you if done properly.  Don’t believe all the things you read about email marketing.  It’s straightforward,  be helpful to your readers and do right by them.   Then it can work.

Unless you are willing to go 100% in the wrong direction – but who wants to do that?

About The Author

 

PS:  Don’t ever give up!

PPS:  See Shen Yun!  It is coming to a city near you.  Take the whole family  – https://ShenYunPerformingArts.org

 

 

Working Late Again?

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wokring late again? Does it seem like you can not avoid working late?

I know that feeling.  It is a punishing kind of existence.

We work late and then we have to get up early.

This is damaging on so many levels.  Our bodies don’t get a chance to rebuild properly.  Our minds don’t get a chance to relax properly.

We work all day and then again at night.

Why do we do that? 

Are we just trying to earn a few extra dollars or take our  business to the next level?

I’ll be the first to admit. I’m no expert on relaxing.   I work hard and  then some.  It is really too much.

Often times, I feel that the results are not what they should be.    But the truth is,  not all of us can be super successful.  And hard work or lack thereof is not usually the reason we are not as successful as we want to be.

We have to find our place in life and realize that is pretty much where we are likely to stay.

But no one is content with that frame of mind!  Instead, we are always looking for the next thing we can do to ‘improve’ our lives.

The sad thing is that we always think that improvement comes from earning more money.  That is a mental trap that is very easy to fall into it.

When We Are Trapped

When we are trapped in the mental state of always looking for ways to make money or thinking that we must work harder at what we already do, we deaden a part of our own souls.

Embrace change, embrace shifts in your mental state.   You may open up new horizons in your own awareness.

Perhaps money won’t be so important then.

But the truth is,  this is not so easy to do.   And achieving that state is not the end to your problems anyway!

There will be new things that you worry about.   You see, the human brain is wired to worry about things.

Don’t believe me?  Examine your own thinking for a day or two.   Pay attention to what your mind ‘dwells’ on.

If you don’t have an immediate problem to solve,  your mind will find a future problem (that may not even happen) to worry about!

Is There A Way Out?

When you think about it, there is really something incredibly insane about it all.   We really cannot stop worrying over one thing or another, can we?

Our minds are trapped in a kind of prison when you really think about it.

If we don’t worry about our own lives, we worry about our spouse or friends or children.

Is there no way out?

What I am going to suggest to you is that you read the book Zhuan Falun (available in most languages) and look at the meditation practice of Falun Dafa

Maybe your thinking can open up a little bit.  Maybe you can change in a really positive way.
Change Is Necessary

If you are working late again.   If you are always worried about something, perhaps it is time for a shift in perspective.

When this life is over, everything we physically gained, all of our achievements,  all of our worries are for naught at the point of our death.

So, what are we really doing in this world?     Do you want to get to the end and walk away with nothing?  Or, would you rather start to build something for yourself that will go with you after death?

The answer is obvious,  the only question is,  do you really get it?   Or is this just one more idea that will float right out of your mind while you start to worry about the next thing.

Working late,  worrying,  what does it really get us in the end?


PS.  if you really are on on that treadmill called the ‘rat race’ or you realize just how worried you are about everything under the sun, then  check out Falun Dafa.   It could be the game changer you have been looking for.

 

 

 

What A Leader Should Be…

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We are still living in very dark ages. Generally speaking, the collective ‘level’ of our human race is still quite low.

A case in point is leadership. What a ‘leader’ is today is completely backwards from what a leader should be.

Today, the leader is the boss, the one who gives the marching orders.  He is there for his own benefit, not for that of others.  This is exactly the opposite of what it means to be a true leader.

A true leader recognizes that the world doesn’t exist for himself or for his wishes. A leader’s true duty is to sacrifice and work for the benefit of those he leads.

A leader’s job is to help all of the others get what they want, to find what they are looking for. This is the real purpose of a leader.

Deep down inside we all know it too. We get angry with our politicians who use words to manipulate us into voting for them. Once that happens, it is all about them. They focus on their agendas and what THEY want out of life. We know it and we resent them for it.

Seldom do you find one who sacrifices for the benefit of others.  It’s all about me, me and me – that is what a leader in this world thinks to himself.

Can you imagine the difference that a true leader could make?  Envision the power of being there for everyone else.

Can you fathom what it would be like if a true leader took the reigns?  Such selfless people are not the norm and that is unfortunate. One person like that could do a whole lot of good in this world.

We are stuck with the impure of heart for now.

What characteristics do YOU think a true leader should have?

If you think others would like or benefit from this post, share it:

Also, read Zhuan Falun – a truly good book.

People are Funny Creatures…

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Have you ever had the distinct notion that people really do not know what they want or even what they are looking for? I believe this to be true because you can find someone who states that they want a solution to something. You offer them the perfect solution and yet they are not interested.

Next, you see this person get something that you know for sure is not going to help them solve the problem they stated to you. It is really interesting.

You try to help someone and they turn down that help and go in a direction that you know will not help them. Some people have to learn the hard way, I guess. In fact, it seems that most people have to learn the hard way.

It is also insulting when people don’t trust you enough to take your advice. But, that is life. Everyone, is living in a world of confusion. If they knew the perfect answer for themselves, they wouldn’t be looking for any answers.

This shows how incredibly ignorant human kind is. I am not singling anyone out here. I am including myself. So do not think that I am talking directly to you. I really mean all of us that are human.

Take the topic of gum disease for example. It is an important problem that many people have. Yet, most people are not aware that they even have gum disease. They will not believe you even if you tell them.

However, the statistics that dental care professionals share with us indicate that up to 80% of people have gum disease right now. You can talk to people until you are blue in the face about this problem, but they still won’t believe they have it or that they should do anything about it.

It is kind of like bad breath. Many people have it, but they don’t seem to realize that they have it. They get use to their own breath.

We live in a strange world.

share your comments and thoughts below

Pronouncing Italian Vowels and Consonants – Part 2.

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This is a continuation of the article: Learning Italian Vowels and Consonants – Part 1

P sounds as it does in English, but without the aspiration, which sometimes happens in English.

Qu sounds as it does in English like in the word quest.

R is very different from the English; it is pronounced with one flip of the tongue against the gums of the upper teeth. This will make the trill sound of the r.

S before vowels and unvoiced consonants such as c, f, p, q, s, t is pronounced like the s in the English word rose.

T is pretty much like the T in English, but with no escaping of breath to go along with it in the Italian.

Z can be voiced, like ds in beds, or it can be voiceless, like ts in bets.

All Italian consonants have a corresponding double consonant, whose pronunciation is similar to, but not exactly like the single consonant. The mispronunciation of the double consonants can result in miscommunication.

Italian is known as a musical language because every sound is clear and distinct but stays soft rather than hard. The consonants will never lose their sound value even when linked together with syllables and words.

When they say Italian is a phonetic language, they mean it is spoken the way it is written. Italian and English share the Latin alphabet, but the pronunciation of each letter differs between the two languages.
Don’t you wonder how all of these languages that share the same alphabet became so different in countries that are so close together?

Scott Wells suggests Learning Italian Today!

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

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Making a Christmas Wreath is not only fun – but you really can get creative with them and make them extremely unique.

Here are instructions for making a traditional holly wreath.

With these instructions, you will be able to get the basic idea of how wreaths are actually made, and you can then decide what to do to make your own holly wreath special – or go with an entirely different kind of wreath.

Materials Needed:

• A 20 inch wreath – This can be a plain foam wreath, a wreath that already has the evergreens on it, or a twine wreath. For a traditional holly wreath, the ones with the evergreens already attached are ideal.

• 1.5 yards of ribbon – this can be plain red, plain green, or a red and black or red and green plaid. The ribbon should about 2.5 inches wide, and can be silk or felt. It’s your wreath!

• Pine cones – you will need about ten. Try to find ones that are well shaped and unbroken.

• Pomegranates – six dried pomegranates will do. Don’t get fresh ones!
Or substitute other dried or good-looking plastic fruits.

• Additional Foliage – you need more evergreens (to make the wreath seem fuller) berry sprays and berry clusters.

• Construction Materials – scissors, hot glue gun, glue sticks, wire (if there is no hanger on the back of the wreath), sewing needle, thread (same color as ribbon).

If the wreath has no hanger, you will need to construct one with the wire. This should be done first. Make sure that it is secure, and that it can bear the weight of the wreath.

Fluff the existing evergreens and add more. The wreath should have a full
appearance. You will most likely need to straighten a few branches here and there – but don’t make it too ‘perfect.’ It should have a ‘natural’ appearance to it.

Let’s make and attach the bow. Cut a piece of ribbon about thirty inches long. Cut another piece of ribbon about four inches long. In the center of the long piece of ribbon, you want to form two loops that will make the bow.

The small piece of ribbon is used to secure the bow, in the middle of the loops. Note that the bow is ‘formed’ not ‘tied.’ There are no knots to tie. Secure the small piece of ribbon around the bow, in the back, with the thread. Each end of the bow will be about nine inches long.

You can place the bow wherever you choose to. It could go in the middle of the top, the bottom, or off to one side. The ends should be woven through the foliage on the wreath – or it can hang loose.

It is a good idea to paint the ends of the ribbon with clear fingernail polish to keep them from fraying over time. The bow can be attached to the wreath with glue or with wire. Just make sure that it is secure.

Once you’ve placed the bow on the wreath, you can glue two of the pomegranates in the center of the bow. The remaining four pomegranates should be glued to the wreath equal distances apart, in groups of two.
Next, glue the pinecones to the wreath. These can be spaced evenly apart sporadically, or in groups of pinecones. Do what looks good to you. Again, it is your wreath.

The berry clusters and sprays should also be glued to the front of the wreath. Glue some additional foliage over the top of the bow with a berry cluster for added affect. Remember that there is not specific way that any of this must be done. It is your choice.

It is a good idea to lay the pieces of the wreath on it before gluing anything down. This will allow you to see how the finished product will look before committing to anything. Try different arrangements of the material to see what looks best to you.

Once you’ve constructed the wreath, set it someplace where the glue has time to harden fully. Once this is done, pick the wreath up and gently shake it to make sure that everything is secured well.

Most wreaths hang on the door, and doors areconstantly opened and closed – and even slammed. You want to make sure that your wreath isn’t falling to pieces each time the door opens and closes.

In many cases, you may be able to use wire or a needle and thread to make items on the wreath more secure. Heavier items won’t be very secure with glue in most cases.

Remember that holly wreaths don’t have to be ‘busy’ to be beautiful. A few simple additions to the foliage is all that it takes.

The bow is typically the object that draws the eye, so make sure that the bow is really well done.

Now that you know how wreaths are made – and how easy it is – you may decide that you don’t want a holly wreath at all. You may opt for a themed wreath, a twined wreath, or a truly unique wreath that stands out. The possibilities are endless!

Learn about Making More Christmas Crafts

Fun for the Whole Family

Scott Wells writes for Make Christmas Crafts: https://MakeChristmasCrafts.com where you can learn to make Christmas crafts for entertainment, decoration and gifts.

 

Recession – Economic Recession?

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The NEWS last night discussed how consumers were tightening down their spending – starting to only buy what was needed to survive – such as food.

This causes greater problems for the economy. As people spend less, more companies will lose money and lay more people off, which means even less money to go around.

The circulation of money is what keeps the economy moving. As you can surmise, the more afraid people become, the less money circulates. People want to hang on to what they have.

This is the reason why analysts talk about the ‘consumer confidence index’ so much.

So what is to be done? The government has to find a way to make people, particularly consumers, less afraid.

At the same time, the banks are also afraid, making it harder for businesses to get necessary loans to survive and grow. Business needs to grow and if it cannot get the capital it needs to grow, it will be forced to lay people off, etc.

As you can see this is a big problem. Our new president will need to tackle this problem head on. If he fails, the world economy will continue to suffer. It is difficult to predict the outcome – at this point.

For the rich, they have pleny of money to ride out the tough economic times, they will not suffer so much. But the common man and woman, will not have vast reserved to fall back on. When their jobs and savings run out, what will they do?

The time is now and taking action is key? But what action should you take? As always, information is needed! As they say, knowledge is power. How will you and I get through these times?

Flamed, I Was Flamed!

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Flaming is the name given to abusive attacks by email. I’ve been working on the Internet for several years now and it is very, very seldom that I run into this kind of situation. Less than 24 hours ago, I was flamed.

This flaming gave me pause for consideration. In fact, it ruined most of my night yesterday as I thought about it. Even when I wasn’t thinking about it, the feeling was there. It just feels awful to be attacked in such a manner. Being attacked in any manner doesn’t feel good and this was no exception.

My spirtual beliefs tell me that when someone does something bad to you they must either pay you back in some way or you are paying them back. This could be for something done in this lifetime or, as in the case of someone you never meant and don’t know, it could be payback from a previous life.

I understand that not everyone shares my belief in past lives and reincarnation but that is another story. I don’t want to digress. There is still gold here for those who don’t agree with my beliefs. Besides, my beliefs do not require anyone else to believe as I do.

In this case, I had written a very innocent email to a group of people about a particular item used for ‘natural healing’. I explained what I thought and why I thought it and even where my information came from. I even admitted that there was no scientific proof, just years of observation to back up my opinion.

Next thing I know someone is attacking me. This person took what I said out-of-context, blew it out of proportion and was defending a position that I didn’t have any issues with. But he had issues with what I said and by the end of the email he attacked my work – which is basically a personal attack.

Keep in mind this was work that he had never read and knew not what it contained, but he felt that he should attack it anyway. Basically, I was shocked.

I responded to his email and explained that he hadn’t read what I had written and that I didn’t appreciate being attacked by him. But, I wondered, what is the point?

This person obviously isn’t coming from a place of calm or reason. He attacked me for something I didn’t say and I mean really attacked me. He dug into me as if we had some kind of personal problem with each other.

I’ve been wondering: what was the correct way to handle this? As I see it, there are really two problems. One is my own reaction. The second is what is the correct response?

On the first point, let me clarify, I did not respond in kind to this person. I did not attack him in return. But what concerns me most is my own feelings. Why did I feel so upset? I know that when you put yourself out in public, you can expect to be attacked once in a while.

I pride myself on staying calm in difficult situations. However, as I am only human, I do slip. Yet, I want to overcome these shortcomings and this is one more test for me in that journey. I still have much work to do on myself – that much is clear.

I really have nothing to defend and I don’t have a real investment in fighting to prove some point of view that means nothing to anyone when you come right down to it. Yet, even though I didn’t flame back, the emotion was there.

Let me illustrate this problem with another example. Some people advocate non-violent communication. They have correctly deduced that if you work on removing violence from your communication, it is harder for violence to manifest physically – not impossible, just more difficult. I admire these folks for their hard work to make themselves better.

For me, I strive to go one step further. Violence, in my opinion, starts a step or two deeper than communication. It starts with that feeling in the heart. It is a feeling of injustice, a feeling of anger, a feeling of indignation. Even worse, it could be the feeling of hate.

The human heart then is the problem. That is where I strive to change myself. And it is much harder than you might imagine.

Therefore, perhaps how I responded was not the problem, it is how I wanted to respond that IS the problem. I honestly wanted to punch this guys lights out. I confess that is a violent thought. And I am saddened that I still have this type of reaction after years of trying to cleanse my heart of such things. Worse, I thought that he was a total moron, an idiot who is completely irrational and even ‘stupid’.

These are all bad things in my opinion. I should not have felt this way, but I did. I should not have had such thoughts, but I did. That makes me sad. The good news is that I didn’t flame this person back. There is a time in my life when I would have. I’m glad that time is in the past.

Unfortunately, the feeling was there. My wish is that I could have immediately felt total compassion for this person, even though he had ‘wronged’ me. My wish is that I could have responded from a place that was completely unconcerned for my personal reputation or need to defend my thoughts or position.

I look forward to further character development. I hope I get there quickly. This is also the answer to the second question: How should I have responded? The simple answer is, my response will always be the right one if I come from a heart of kindness, tolerance and compassion.

Sadly, such a state of mind is a long distance away for most of us here on planet Earth. Never-the-less, I have to get there. It is the only place of being that makes sense.

Copyright 2008 David Snape ATP
Dave encourages those of a spiritual mind to read Zhuan . Falun Dave is the author of: What You Should Know about Gum Disease. You can reach David at https://tobeinformed.com You may reprint this article on your website or blog, provided that you keep this author resource box with the article and that all hyperlinks are kept ‘active’.