One of the most distressful financial horrors is bad credit. People who face bad credit usually seek to get rid of it by engaging the services of a third party agency. Even so, with the innumerable number of similer agencies all providing their own range of services, it can get hard to select the most desirable choice. And the fact that these companies make it appear complicated does not help the matter very much. Along with that is the difficulty of getting a loan with the existing worldwide economic status; banks now ask for exceptionally high credit standings before providing a loan on favorable terms. If you’re one of those people whose financial standing has been damaged because of bad credit, then fast credit repair is what you’re after. Remember, that you do not need to have specific knowledge on fast credit repair. You can get out of that dreaded credit standing without necessarily having to engage the services of a third party and pay sky high service charges.

Consistent use of credit cards is one of the main reasons for bad credit. Try not to use athe credit card if it is not required. And if you can, get a monthly limit imposed on your credit card, so you don’t accidentally over-spend. This is one of the strategies used for fast credit repair and will help keep your credit card expenses down. Additionally, shut off any other unneeded credit accounts. They may not accrue you any significant charges, their visual existence on your credit statements can damage your overall score. You’ll find out that fast credit repair is not really difficult!

People usually tend to neglect the simple strategies to fast credit repair. They do not deal with the problem themselves. Instead, they engage costly services. These services do nothing extraordinary. They study the credit reports of the person and draw up a decision which is based on their findings. This task is not mind boggling, and one that can effortlessly be accomplished by the individual himself. Thus, people should be better off doing the simple things themselves, instead of paying high charges to get them done elsewhere. Because, towards the end of the day, getting yourself out of bad credit is something you must achieve yourself, and not the business you’ve utilized the services of.

Thomas R. Cutler (www.trcutlerinc.com) authored a feature article about Kanban in the October issue of Automation.com (www.automation.com). Paper kanban intent has efficacy; the reality of cluttered transport routes, overflowing finished goods stores, immense quantities of WIP (work-in-progress) and unscheduled machine downtimes, often make the merits of this lean manufacturing functionality questionable. When there are also frequent complaints about delivery problems, the reality is quite distant from the theory. Poor implementation of kanban is quickly overcome in an e-kanban environment. Kanban is a visual signal that something needs to be replenished. Lean Manufacturers today use Kanban to drive a process to make, move, or buy the appropriate parts. Thus, Kanban becomes one of the fundamental building blocks of a pull (or consumption based) replenishment system. No card? No Replenishment.

Sue Via, Senior Project Engineer with TechSolve (www.techsolve.org) suggests that Kanban is only part of the lean process, “Kanban is a higher order concept and many things must be in place before implementation of the concept is feasible. For instance, the foundation of Standard Work, 5S/Visual Management, and Quality at the Source must be in place and functional. All affected processes should go through an initial lean transformation to eliminate waste, establish Flow and initiate a Pull mindset. All processes including equipment must be reliable in order to minimize the inventory requirements.”

Two of the primary limitations of a manual (or paper based) Kanban system are data availability and scalability. According to Justin Diana, VP of Datacraft Solutions (www.datacraftsolutions.com), “In a typical manual Kanban implementation, most transactions and orders are placed with faxes and emails and recorded in an Excel spreadsheet. At the end of the day, this information is limited to the individual managing and recording this data. The individuals responsible for growing and improving the process, have limited or no visibility to the data. As the number of parts, suppliers, and cells grow, managing this process only becomes more convoluted.”

Datacraft Solutions www.datacraftsolutions.com Matthew Marotta 800-819-5326

# # #

The first microscope was created hundreds of years ago. In the passing centuries, microscopes evolved into powerful, precise tools that allow scientists to view tiny objects at a level of detail that seems unreal. There are a wide array of available microscopes, from the compound microscopes commonly found in high school science classrooms to powerful scanning tunneling and electron microscopes used by Nobel Prize winners.

Most historians agree that two Dutchman made the first microscope in 1590. Zaccharias Janssen and his son Hans were two eyeglass makers who experimented with putting multiple lenses together in a tube. They found that objects under the tube were greatly enlarged. Over the next hundred years, scientists Robert Hooke, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, and others further refined the work of the Janssens and used microscopes to examine insects, blood, and other items. Scientists have continued microscopes into the present day. Now, microscopes can show tiny particles that are unseen by the naked eye in extremely exact detail.

Microscopes operate on several principles. Most common microscopes have two different lenses. Viewers look through the ocular lens, also known as the eyepiece. There is another lens, called the objective lens at the end of the ocular lens. The objective lens is a sphere shaped lens located above the stage of the microscope. People place the object they want to examine on the stage and can adjust the lenses to bring the object into focus. Most microscopes have an adjustment knob for coarse focus and one for fine focus. Many microscopes have several objective lenses with different strengths for users to choose from. The lenses are arranged on a circular platform that can be rotated to have the different lenses put into place under the ocular lens. Microscopes also need a light source of some kind underneath the stage. Most commercial microscopes have a light bulb, but many high-end microscopes use lasers or electrons for illumination.

Microscopes have been used to make countless vital scientific discoveries. They are invaluable tools used in a variety of scientific fields that enable researchers to make discoveries that would be impossible with the naked eye.

About the Author

Microscopes Info provides detailed information about electron, compound, stereo, digital, video, and scanning tunneling microscopes, as well as an explanation of the different parts of a microscope, and more. Microscopes Info is affiliated with Business Plans by Growthink.

Most fitness experts feel that running is one or the best exercises to help keep you in shape.

The criticism is the stress on the body. The knees and leg muscles do take a beating. But . . . there are plenty of runners in their 60’s and 70’s who have been running for years and continue to do so.

Running is simply too great of an exercise to dismiss. Here’s a way to make running a lifelong exercise with minimal injuries.

First, warm up is very important. Ideally you should walk at a brisk pace for 5 minutes of more. After the body starts to get warmed up, some stretching exercises will help loosen the muscles and prepare them for the workout to come.

A continuous steady stretch should be used. Do not bounce!!

Forget distance – think time. We want to work up to a nice 30 minute workout.

Before you try to progress, the first goal will be walking at a brisk pace comfortably for 30 minutes. If you can do this now, you can move to the next step. If not, work towards that goal.

Once you reach the 30 minutes of brisk walking, you can move to the next step. Warm up as stated for no less than 5 minutes. Now you’re going to begin to walk briskly and then run at a slow pace until you become winded. Then walk briskly until you recover. Begin running again.

If it’s 15 seconds, fine. 30 seconds – go for it. The idea is to gradually build up your running time.

Start out doing this 3 – 5 times during your exercise. You can do more if you have been exercising regularly.

Here’s the good news. Just doing that will be a good exercise routine. Even walking for 30 minutes but getting to the point where you throw in 5 – 1 minute runs is great! You get your heart beat to climb and when you drop back to walking, the rate stays elevated for awhile.

Now, if you’re up to it and are so inclined, start increasing the running. Again, a little at a time. If you injure yourself, not only do you have to stop the exercise for a time, but you also might be less likely to pick it up again.

So walk and then begin running for a couple minutes at a time. Or jog at a slow pace for as long as you feel comfortable.

Here’s another tip to remember if your routine works up to running the entire time. If you run at a steady pace, then throw in faster runs of 30 seconds or more, and return to running at a steady pace to recover, you will actually get more benefit in your running routine.

The sprints (not all out but we’ll call them sprints to make it easy) will force your body out of it’s comfort zone. You will become much fitter than you would by running at a slow and steady pace for your entire routine.

Now, if you want to break the boredom, run some hills. You’ll feel it in your shins and the front of your thighs as you run up the hill but, and this is good news, it’s actually less strain on your knees.

However, be careful and slow it down while running down the hill. Here’s where your knees can really take a beating. There’s a tendency to pick it up while running downhill as you have great momentum.

Ignore that tendency.

Obviously if you are training for a racing event or such, this type of routine will not apply to you; unless you are just starting to run. But this running routine is something you can do to keep yourself fit while minimizing the risk of injury.

You will have less chance of injury and you’re more likely to do it for a lifetime!

Proper Supplementation is vital to the success of any exercise program. For more health tips & Free Health Newsletter: http://www.healthybodysupplements.com Be informed. Always consult your health care provider before starting any exercise program.

If you have ever played a hand of poker or taken a spin on the roulette wheel you know that the games vary dramatically. Each game has a set of rules and the odds differ from one game to the next depending on how many players there are. While one strategy might work in one <a href=http://www.partycasino.com>online casino</a> there is no guarantee that it will work across the board. If you want to win consistently you will need to develop your own strategy and employ it when necessary to increase your chances of winning.

Gambling is a game of chance that has lots of different variables. Depending on the strategy you use you could either help yourself or hurt yourself when playing in an online casino. Because the odds vary so greatly between one game and the next and from one casino to the next it’s impossible know ahead of time your real chances of winning.

Most casinos keep your odds of winning a secret so that no player has a distinct advantage over another. Your best bet when playing in an online casino is to pick your games carefully. Choose games that have fewer players or where you can play multiple hands or lines. Slots and blackjack are popular for this because you can win in several different ways. Keno is also a popular game because you can win higher amounts for matching multiple numbers at the same time.

Light On in Life

Terry Dashner………………Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013

When Thomas A. Edison died on October 18, 1931, President Herbert Hoover suggested that all the lights in America be turned off for one minute in honor of the noted inventor. It was when he was only thirty-two that the youthful inventor, after thirteen months of repeated failure, had developed the first incandescent light. It was, in his words, the “most difficult” of all his inventions.

But President Hoover’s proposal was never carried out, because responsible leaders decided that too much risk would be involved if all lights were suddenly extinguished at the same time.

Edison designed a product that proved indispensable. Even at his death, the world could not do without it for a single minute. A good test of any man’s (or woman’s) life is whether he makes even a small contribution which just one person cannot do without.

What about you? Are you making a difference?

Rick Warren in his book entitled, The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan 2002), states the following. “The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”

Rick continues, “You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you! The Bible says, ‘The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.’”

Do you agree with this Biblical truth? Ask the Lord to help you with your unbelief. Your life is too valuable to God, to this world, to miss living with impact simply because you can’t get this truth into your heart. All things are possible to him who believes, according to the Bible. Why would someone not believe that her life is meaningful? Many have been told that they were a mistake. Many have believed the lie of the enemy that they are just a lump of flesh, suspended in space and time, to exist and then die. But this is not true.

The Bible says that you are made in the image and likeness of God. The Bible says that you are wonderfully and gloriously made. The prophet Jeremiah said that God called him to his life-long purpose from his mother’s womb. The Bible says that you’ve been in the mind of God from eternity past. A life this significant should certainly have purpose. And if it has purpose, then it can impact the world around it.

That’s right. Because God created you in purpose, you are significant in this world. The Kingdom of God is your domain. And as you move through this life in the Kingdom of Light, you spoil the works of darkness. As darkness flees, you stand in its vacated spot as light and salt. You bring the Light of Christ so that others may see, and you stand as salt against the rottenness of evil and despair. This is impact. This is your life.

Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon.
Pastor t.

About the Author

Pastors a small church in Broken Arrow, OK. US Navy veteran, retired police officer, and father of three grown children.

What is a “White Paper”?

A “white paper” is just one of many types of viral marketing mechanisms that you can use in your business to qualify and attract streams of clients, whether you’re awake or asleep, at work or on holiday. This is truly the “sales person who never sleeps”!

And the best part is, even if you have to pay someone to research and do it for you, it’s the cheapest, most effective advertising you could possibly do! In many cases, with a little help from your fellow business people, you can create your own very simple but effective white paper.

• Definitive report or guide
• Relates to a problem, situation, product or service
• Initially used to refer to particular government publications
• Thereafter used to refer to reports about technical products or scientific advances
• Has now been adapted to all sorts of products and services, including yours

The best white papers point out a crucial and relevant problem which your potential clients would walk over broken glass to get the answer to. Don’t use white papers to try to convince people – that’s way too hard and rarely works. Find a “starving crowd” and offer them “food”!

We’ve proven over and over again that just about any company has a “starving crowd” out there waiting for them, if only they know how to identify it!

Purpose Related to Marketing

If a white paper is well researched and well-written, it has the potential to be passed on to many others. This means that distribution of many thousands of copies of your white paper, to a targeted audience, can be at no cost to you whatsoever!

Studies show that white papers are often passed on to 6 others whom the recipient considers the information important for. Result: High contact rate from qualified potential clients.

You can do the math on this for yourself. If 2 people each pass it on to 2 other people, who each pass it on to 2 other people, within just 19 days it has the potential to reach over 1 million targeted, qualified people. Great white papers do exactly that.

A Great White Paper Must Meet These Criteria

• High relevance to audience
• Unbiased and objective
• Does not in any way appear self-serving
• Informative
• High credibility

A white paper isn’t just an overblown brochure, and in reality isn’t about you or your company at all. It’s all about your client! No wonder your potential clients will want to read it!

Make sure you write objectively, from the client’s point of view, in such a way that the client absolutely knows you understand his/her problem, and absolutely trusts that you have what they are looking for. Be brutal in eliminating hype.

If you do this well, you will build a highly-responsive, trusting client base that will not only make you their first port of call, but will send streams of referrals to you as well. After all, you’ve now established yourself as the trusted “expert” in your business or field.

Steps to Create Your Own White Paper

• Research your topic – do not merely rely on your own company resources
• Decide on a topic and headline that will rivet the reader’s attention
• Begin by briefly describing the purpose/content of your white paper
• Clearly elucidate the problem from the client’s perspective
  Offer a range of solutions
• Give an irresistible reason to initiate contact with you, that is a logical progression of the white paper

No matter how well you believe you know your clients’ needs, never presume. Use free tools like Overture or GoodKeywords to test out your ideas about what’s in your clients’ minds. Home into what you discover with laser-like accuracy in your heading, and in your very lifelike description of what it’s like to experience the problem, from your clients’ shoes.

Be objective in discussing solutions. You may be aware that there are some solutions that people are trying that are not working – give personalised case studies of those as well as others that are giving good results.

Finally, invite the reader to initiate contact with you in a way that is a natural flow-on from your paper. It may be taking advantage of a coupon, subscribing to an ezine or discussion forum, asking for a further report, attending a seminar, etc, etc. Make sure that from this step, there are others that lead logically, safely and comfortably, to acquisition of your product or service once your client has gained sufficient confidence and trust in you. Remember that the white paper is not a strategy on its own, but is part of an overall marketing strategy!

How We Can Help

Different businesses have different degrees of need for help with their white paper. Some are able to complete the whole task and need no help at all. Others need us to complete the whole process, from initial research to final write up.

If you’d like to see some examples of white papers so that you can start planning your own, by all means search the net for “white paper examples”. You’ll find that most white papers are still on technical subjects, which is great if that’s what you’re dealing in. However if you’re looking for white papers that discuss services, or seek to build loyalty through demonstration of expertise, then take a look at those in the articles section on our website http://www.speedbusinessnetworking.com/

No doubt you’ll get some good ideas from reading through them!

Christine Sutherland is the CEO of Speed Business Networking, which provides online and live support to SME’s who want to grow quickly, easily, and safely. This membership-based site provides a cost-effective way for real businesses to access top-quality consulting in sales, marketing, and owner replication.

I’ll get right to the point. Life is not necessarily what we think it is. And no, I’m not going to extrapolate this to the extreme to try to convince you that we really exist on some obscure planet in a distant spiral galaxy and that all of this we’re experiencing as “Life” is only a dream. Of course, it is kind of cool to think that we could waking up any time now, wandering out to the kptfrun to put on the cuggy and then stepping out on the prafo to watch the bos rise and enjoy the sounds of the bilbs as they greet the morning. We naturally, would be all the more enlightened because of the dream experience of the previous night and could therefore anticipate an even more productive, enjoyable day at the Snark assembly plant. (Does excessive caffeine intake cause everyone to think weird stuff like that? Probably just me, huh?)

Where were we? Oh yeah, the illusion thing… Let’s start with the physical, material stuff. Everything you see is not as it appears – or as it is interpreted by our little brains. When we look around, we “see” all kinds of solid forms. Computers, desks, paper, chairs, walls, books, etc. These things not only look solid, they feel solid and can be held, moved, sat upon, used to support other solid things – and broken. So they’re all composed of some densely packed material and therefore are completely “solid”, right?

Not even close, Martha. When you get down to the itty bitty particles that all of these nice solid objects are made of, you’re gonna find only little teeny tiny bits of energy, specks of particles and a hell of a lot of space between them. In fact, there’s a bunch more space than there are specks of particles. Here’s one of the analogies I can relate to easily. If we arbitrarily designated the nucleus of an atom (the combination of the neutrons and protons in the center of an atom that contain just about all of the atom’s mass) as the size of a grapefruit, the rest of the atom that is the electron cloud (little negatively charged particles that are zipping around the nucleus like a bat outta hell) would take up a space equivalent to a large football stadium. Hmm, let’s see. Grapefruit is the “solid” stuff – football stadium is the space and energy stuff. Yeah, there’s a hell of a lot of space inside those little atom guys.

Of course, when these little bundles of specks and energy (it would take about a hundred million of ‘em laid end to end to stretch out to a length of approximately one centimeter) share their electrons to bond with another atom – or atoms – to form molecules… and then these molecules link together using the energy of their foundation atoms, we can wind up with materials that appear and act like they’re completely solid. OK, for those of you who may tend to get picky here, we also wind up with other similar things we can touch such as gas (air) and liquid – the other two states of matter that make up our world.

So where’s that leave us? Surrounded by, living with, eating, drinking, using and yes, even mating with “things” that are mostly space and energy. (I think I just saw several married ladies’ hands go up to question the energy part of that last statement. Please put your hands down. You know what I mean…)

Our physical, material world then is not exactly what we normally perceive it to be. And, it’s a pretty sure bet that the rest of our little world operates pretty much along those same lines. Our perceptions of ourselves, of those around us and the events and situations in our lives and the rest of the world are shaped primarily by our inputs and experiences to this point in our lives. Depending on the “quality” of our programming so far, our personal perceptions of this world can range from fairly realistic to way outta whack. The great thing about this though, is that other’s perceptions of our perceptions are tinted by their own personal or collective experiences (programming) so as a result, reality (if there is such a thing) clouds up really quick. Whoa… I think I just gave myself a headache

Yes, it’s often extremely difficult to determine where skewed perception ends and reality begins. Of one thing we can be sure. Our individual perceptions of life are the foundations for our personal reality. If your reality is not everything you desire – if it’s not bringing you the enjoyment of life you feel you deserve – then it’s worth putting forth a little effort to examine your “programming” to see if there aren’t a few changes you’d like to make in your thought processes and the way you’re viewing life. It can be well worth the effort.

While you’re doing that, I really do need to get rid of my headache. I think I’ll go pour a cup of cuggy and go out on the prafo to watch the bos rise…

About The Author

Gene, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading self-help blog along with affordable books and materials written to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life’s “secrets for survival” in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. It’s a down-to-earth, simple approach to discovering a better life. You can visit Gene at http://www.nupathz.com/

gene@nupathz.com

THE MAGI:

I find no real fault in Constantine’s inclusion or plagiarization of earlier and other systems of thought or their symbology into Roman Empire social engineering. The problem I see is the nature of the knowledge that they sought to prevent average people from gaining. Knowledge is power and knowledge in the hands of the few is a corrupting power. They have used mind-fogging projections to enslave and make people live in fear of demons and other constructs.

“Among the most famousand fiercestof the laws that Moses is shown to bring down from Mt. Sinai are the ones that criminalize the practice of magic. ‘There shall not be found among you a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,’ decrees Moses. ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’ (From Biblio: Deut 18: 10; Exod. 22: 18.) Magic working is condemned with equal fervor in the Christian Bible, where it is explicitly kinked with all the other outrages of paganism: ‘The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, {Yes, and the Catholics had more idols than the pagan pantheon especially when you include the saints along with ‘Laddio, Daddio and Spook’.} and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’ (From Biblio: Rev. 21: 8.)

Ironically, an intriguing and illuminating clue to the function of sorcery in the pagan world is buried away in one of the most beloved passages of the Christian Bible. ‘Three wise men’ come in search of the newborn Jesus, or so goes the conventional English translation of Matthew 2: 1-2, ‘for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.’ The ‘wise men’ are plainly called ‘magi’ in the Greek text, the plural form of ‘magus,’ a word that was used among the pagans of Babylonia and Persia to identify seers, soothsayers and sorcerers. ‘Magus’ is the root of ‘magic,’ and so we might more accurately call the men who followed a star to Bethlehem the three magicians.

‘Magus’ came to be used in Jewish and Christian circles as a derogatory term to describe someone who trafficked in black magic; a sorcerer, a deceiver, even a poisoner. But the original meaning of the word in the pagan world was honorable and even exalted…” (1)

Then there are the constant proclamations that various ‘experts’ make about ESP. Stanford Research Institute included the inventor of the laser and many fine scientists that these so-called ‘experts’ are seldom able to evaluate or as debunkers are paid to marginalize. Russell Targ’s book Limitless Mind including a foreword by Jean Houston is a great book for the truly open-minded individual. Targ’s book – which is the study of consciousness and the ethereal Matrix at a high scientific level says: “…forced-choice ESP tests are an inefficient way to elicit psi functioning: they always have an additional burden of boredom and mental noise (AOL). In the above studies, the experimenters, on average, had to carry out 3,600 trials to achieve a statistically significant result. With the free-response type of experiment, such as remote viewing, we typically have to do only six to nine trials.” (2) Does it not make sense to ‘observe’ all the avenues for wisdom that we are blessed with?

1) God against the gods: the history of the war between monotheism and polytheism, by Jonathan Kirsch, Penguin, NY, 2004, pg. 46.

2) Limitless Mind, by Russell Targ, New World Library, California, 2004, pg. 95.

About the Author

Author of Diverse Druids, Columnist for The ES Press Magazine, Guest writer at World-Mysteries.com

Humanity seems to be the only species that never seems
pleased with its own. People tend to spend the majority of
their life living up to an illusion that no one has ever
been able to attain. It is the illusion of perfection. The
problem is, that is a course that is marked with failure and
pain. Someone came up with the concept that people should be
wafting through the fields picking lilies and singing songs
of the angels. If you stay on this course you will never
measure up. You were not meant to.

There are too many people walking around under condemnation
by this illusion. They feel they have failed at the game of
life. It is not true. You have not failed. You cannot fail
at something that is unattainable. Instead, you should be
pleased that you got as far as you did. There are many that
check out of this life because they refuse to fail at
anything. Lets talk about how you can live authentically
with the life you have.

One, you must make the decision to live in the moment. We
have too many who are living in the past, with its mistakes,
or in the future, with its uncertainties. In order for you
to be authentic, you are going to have to take the
proverbial bull by the horn and live in the here and now. We
all know that we cannot change the past, yet many of us have
set up camp there in hopes that we can make sense of it.
Then there is the other group that is off to a time that
hasn’t happened yet. Neither group is useful. Life is
happening now.

So, how do you live now? Start by taking off the mask. Admit
that life hasn’t been what you expected and then forgive
yourself and God. Yourself, for chasing an illusion, and
God, for blaming Him when it didn’t happen as you expected.

Second, Be honest with yourself. Honesty is a lost commodity
in the era we live in. People love to lie. The only problem
is that you take your lies internally and they judge you.
You might say, “I don’t lie.” Let’s take a short quiz.

1. Do you make promises to yourself that you don’t keep?
(I’m going on a diet.) 2. Do you make promises to others
that you don’t keep? (I’ll be on time.) 3. Do you tell
others what they want to hear instead of what they need to
hear out of fear of repercussions? 4. If you asked your
closest friend if you were an honest person how would they
answer?

We lie without thinking about it because that is what we are
conditioned to do. We soften them by calling them little
white lies. A lie is a lie. Of course, there are the other
extremists who lack tact in their honesty. They try to
belittle people. Both sides are not good. As you start
living authentic you must make honesty your priority. Why?
How can you be honest with someone else if you are not
honest with yourself? Further, you project it onto other
people. By projection, I mean that you put the burden on
another person to be what you cannot be. You will find fault
with the person who is just a mirror of yourself. Since you
do not have the compassion to love the shadow of yourself,
you will not have compassion on the other person. Let me
give you an example, I have a friend that is a
procrastinator to a fault. It used to aggravate me until I
saw I was the same way. When I dealt with that aspect in
myself her procrastination no longer bothered me.

Jung says, “Man turns a blind eye to the shadow-side of
human nature. Blindly he strives against the salutary dogma
of original sin, which is yet so prodigiously true. Yes, he
even hesitates to admit the conflict of which he is so
painfully aware.”

Third, is what I call the peel and reveal method. You have
to go down into the depth of your soul and find the parts of
you that you thought were not good enough to exist. This is
intense, but the only way I know of to let you know that the
world is waiting for the person you were originally created
to be. That person has something to offer humanity, not the
person that you pretend to be.

Many of you are so miserable that you go home and cry
through the night. You are holding on by a thread because
you don’t know if you can keep this illusion going for much
longer. I promise you if you will do the work it will be
worth it. I have been where you are, so I know from whence I
speak.

How do you peal and reveal? I recommend you get a journal
that is for your eyes-only. Write down the five things that
you hate about yourself. For example, angry, hostile,
pessimistic, etc. Then write down what is good about those
aspects. This will take some searching, but I promise you
there is a hidden gift. Part of it is just the idea of
admitting that you hate something about yourself. When you
get rid of the secret you get rid of its hold on you. What
is hidden will ultimately be revealed, so why not reveal it
on your terms. There is a saying, What you don’t own will
own you. We all have heard of the guy who is real sweet but
sometimes beats up his wife. This is what hiding anger does.
It comes out explosively and towards someone else.

Some people recommend that you ask your friends and family
to help you with this project. I do not advocate this for
most people because some people have lived their lives based
on what others will think or have thought of them. It is
time for you to come face to face with you. Besides, in the
end it really only matters what you think of you. Others can
project, but you must accept it. So peal back the mask and
see yourself for who you really are.

Fourth, forgiveness is an essential part of living
authentically. You have to forgive yourself for lying. This
is tough to do especially when you know some do not deserve
our forgiveness. The strange thing about forgiveness is that
it is not for the other party, but for you. I like to live
by the premise of keeping short accounts. What offense is
worth your peace? The biggest revelation to me was that
there was very little that I was willing to lose my peace
for. I want to be better not bitter. Make that your goal as
well. Bitterness is a cancer that needs to be cut out or it
will destroy you.

Forgiveness does not mean that you have to let the
individual have the same relationship with you as before the
offense. It does mean that you will not hold it against
them. Over time some will earn the privilege of being a
friend again, but trust must be earned. For example, If a
dog bites you, you may forgive it, but that doesn’t mean you
want it around.

Finally, authentic living requires letting go. You must let
go of the illusions, the past, the lies, and the audacity.
The audacity to believe that there is something wrong with
everyone, but you. All of it has to go. Deep down you know
the truth. You are afraid that somehow you will give away
your secret or worse, that someone else will expose you.
What is the secret? You are a fraud. You are pretending to
be something you are not and denying who you are.

Authentic living is tough. It requires you to go into
yourself and pull out the junk, so you can find the precious
stone. It is not for the weak or those who are looking for a
quick fix. Authentic living is a lifestyle and it takes time
to develop.

So don’t be afraid of failing or missing it, because the
only time you fail is when you have the information yet
choose to remain the same.

About the Author

: Delores Williams is a freelance writer living in Oklahoma City. Her writing is taken from different aspects of her life, or those close to her. She can be reached at delwilliams@gmail.com