Moving Day

Believe it or not this was several months in the making.

After what has seemed like forever; several days, weeks, and months of reorganizing, juggling numerous tasks at once, multitasking in my sleep and waiting for the timing to be just right, I have finally moved blog sites.

Don’t worry, the contents haven’t changed, they will still contain glimpses of your Soul through everyday occurrences. And you know as hard as I have worked to make the move as easy, stress-free and palatable as possible, I think it was all worth it.

I will be importing the archives slowly because Blogger doesn’t have an importing tool to merge two blogs into one yet.

I am sure that when the painstaking task is over in a few months, Blogger will announce the debut of their new import tool. It always happens.

Anyway, without further ado, you are all cordially invited to celebrate with me at my new blog,

Soul Meets World.

Please change your links and subscriptions to reflect www.soulmeetsworld.com.

Thanks to all of you for making this place a lot of fun and giving me your undying support. It was really appeciated and it also gave me a great insight into who you are and what you care about.

I hope you will all come with me to my new home.

See you there.

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Birth

"Man's main task in life
is to give birth to himself."

~Erich Fromm

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The Closed Door

I live across the street from a small post office that’s off the beaten path.

Like most government buildings, it is closed on holidays and weekends. On such days, a ‘CLOSED’ sign is posted on the glass doors as big as day.

Sometimes, I’ll step out on the balcony just to get some fresh air or observe people in their natural habitat.

Like a classic film, I will always find something watchable. The life actors are already in their scenes with their lines and motivations memorized to perfection.

They don’t even know that they are performing on the stage of life.

Human beings never cease to amaze me. We are so intricately entwined in our thoughts sometimes that I don’t know how some of us get from point A to point B.

The other day the post office was closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. I saw a few people drive into the empty lot of the post office. They would get out of their car and saunter to the front door.

When it didn’t open, they would try to push the door open and then pull on the handle. Remember there is a huge sign that reads, ‘CLOSED.’

One man even started knocking on the door and yelling,

“Hello? Open the door. Hello, anybody there? I need stamps.”

He must have thought that he was giving his order at a drive-thru.

He banged on the door again and looked inside the door as if someone was hiding in there.

He reluctantly walked away ten minutes, totally bewildered and looking back every few seconds as if someone was going to open the door and say, “Surprise!”

Though the sign was in full view, he never saw it, not once. Often the signs are right in front of us and we still can’t see them. They can be as plain as day.

The signs are not relegated to pieces of paper on doors. They can be in a message; something someone says out of the blue that makes us stand back, something in a newspaper, advertisement, television, etc.

They are signs from the universe and they are tangible.

The message that we need to see or hear is often in front of us. Anyway we look at it, no matter how hard we push a closed door it won't open.

No matter how strong our desire is to open the door, it is closed. No matter how alluring the other side is, it is closed.

It is closed for a reason. We are not meant to go inside. Even if somehow we get the door open, it still may slam shut. That is a sign. There is nothing there for us anymore.

It is time for our next experience. Time to move on. Time to open another door. Another chapter. Don’t deny yourself your true destiny to walk through as many open doors as possible.

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The Dream

The last post was kind of long and I didn’t want to laden you guys with too many words today, but I want to leave you with something that I hope will take hold of your Soul.

Today in America, we celebrate Martin Luther King’s holiday.

"Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy."

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Think Or Sink

When I graduated from school, I thought that learning was over. I thought that I would never have to read another text book, hear another lecture, do another essay, do another project, pass another test or do any more homework.

Boy was I wrong. I do more out of school than I did in school because now it really matters. In fact, my work load has tripled.

I have traded my text books for life experience. Many things that are written in text books are written for memorization.

There is no reason to know half the things except to give the brain a good workout and that’s not at all bad.

I am always learning something new everyday. Sometimes I think my head is going to explode, but I know that’s just my brain archiving information, storing my internal hard drive and making more room in my library of congress.

Did you know that the muscle of the brain can bench-press incredible weight? Theories. Emotions. Memories. Sensations. Pictures. Colors. Movement. Process senses. And still have power to move everything back and forth with proficiently like a well oiled machine.

Over 80% of the brain is water, and thus an incredible synchronized swimmer doing all kinds of feats if we let it. Though the brain is the captain of the body, we are the master of our fate. We have to think or sink.

The brain lets us know that we have a Soul. When the time is right, the brain hands over the keys to the Soul so the Soul can let us continue our journey.

So many people abuse their brains with inertia, drugs, misinformation, misinterpretation, and anything that kills brain cells.

Once we reach the age of 35, we start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. Those cells will never be replaced, but we don’t have to add to that number by abusing our mind or not using it’s potential.

We need our brains in tact. If we want something in life, our brain will get us there. If we can’t get there, then our brain will work on another route and another and another until we get to where we are going.

We must think of our brain as a fire that we never want to go out. Learning something new everyday keeps logs in the fire. Learning doesn’t stop at reading, writing or stretching our brain to it’s maximum, it never stops.

Though it starts with our brain, it doesn’t end there. Learning how to experience life to it's fullest and leaving people with love is what its all about.

Our brain needs five basic foods to survive; oxygen, a balanced and nutritious diet, new and varied knowledge, affection and love.

When we feed our brain, our life will be full.

More Brain Trivia

People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.

The human brain has about 100 billion neurons.

Unconsciousness will occur after 8-10 seconds after loss of blood supply to the brain.

There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves.

There are about 13,500,00 neurons in the human spinal cord.

A human brain generates more electrical impulses in a single day than all of the world's telephones put together.

Our bodies are recreating themselves constantly - we make a skeleton every 3 months, new skin every month.

We are capable of reversing the aging process. We have a a whole pharmacy within us. We can create any drug inside us.

The brain cannot process a negative command or statement? If you say to your child "be careful, don't spill your milk," as they carry the glass of milk across the kitchen, the child has to actually think of spilling the milk so that it can take the necessary action not to do it. We tend to get what we focus on, so by the child thinking of spilling milk that is what happens. So ask for what you want, not for what you don't want.

One of the biggest destroyers of memory is stress. When you are stressed you release high levels of cortisol into your bloodstream. One of the ways that cortisol affects you is that it destroys glucose - the brain's only source of food. So if your brain is not getting the nutrients it needs then it will not function as well.

All the literature that has ever been written in the modern English language consists of patterns of only 26 letters.

All the paintings ever made are patterns of only three primary colors.

All the music ever written consists of patterns of no more than 12 notes.

All the arithmetical expressions we know consists of only 10 symbols.

And for the vast computations of digital computers, everything is made up of patterns of only two components.

So whenever we speak of something as being "new," we are really talking about original patterns of already existing components.

On average we remember, 20% of what we read, 30% of what we hear, 40% of what we see, 50% of what we say, 60% of what we do, and 90% of what we see, hear, say and do.

The eyes can take in information in one five hundredth (1/500th) of a second. That means that if you read one word at a time you can read 500 in a second which gives you a reading speed of 30,000 words a minute! Now it is not quite as simple as that but whatever speed you are reading at now, you can do it much, much faster.

If you take a Cray Computer (one of the largest computers in the world) and measure its wiring, it has about 60,000 miles in total. If you take the brain and look at it in those terms, it has over 200,000 miles of wiring!

The brain is about the size of two clenched fists and weighs about 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms) and contains 1000 trillion trillion (yes trillion twice) protein molecules.

Baroque music (mainly composed 1700-1750) produces exactly the right frequency and sound to harmonize the functioning of the brain and produce a state of calm relaxed alertness. That is why accelerated learning techniques introduce music into the learning process.

When we create a memory, a pathway is created between our brain cells. It is like clearing a path through a dense forest. The first time that we do it, we have to fight our way through the undergrowth. If we don't travel that path again, very quickly it will become overgrown and we may not even realize that you have been down that path.

Successive journeys down that path mean that eventually our track will turn into a footpath, which will turn into a lane, which will turn into a road, and into a motor way and so on. It is the same with your memory: the more times that we repeat patterns of thought when learning new information, the more likely we will be able to recall that information. So repetition is a key part of learning.

It is only in the last 500 years or so that mankind has realized that the brain was located in the skull. Previously, it was thought that the brain was located in near the heart and stomach because that was where direct experience of the physical manifestation of mental activity was felt.

Usually there are no disparities in general intelligence between the sexes, a 2005 University of California, Irvine study has found significant differences in brain areas conducive to how men and women manifest their intelligence.

Different types of brain designs are capable of producing equivalent intellectual performances. The study shows that women possess more white matter, while men have more gray matter related to intellectual skill; revealing that no single neuroanatomical structure determines general intelligence.

Men have approximately 6.5 times the amount of gray matter related to general intelligence than women, and women have nearly 10 times the amount of white matter related to intelligence than men. Gray matter represents information processing centers in the brain, and white matter represents the networking of – or connections between – these processing centers.

A 2005 University of Southern California study has found the first proof of structural brain abnormalities in people who habitually lie, cheat and manipulate others.

While previous research has shown that there is heightened activity in the prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain that enables most people to feel remorse or learn moral behavior – when normal people lie, this is the first study to provide evidence of structural differences in that area among pathological liars.

Pathological liars can't always tell truth from falsehood and contradict themselves. They are manipulative, brazen and admit that they prey on people.

Aside from having histories of conning others or using aliases, the habitual liars also admitted to malingering, or telling falsehoods to obtain sickness benefits.

Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging to explore structural brain differences, the liars had significantly more "white matter" and slightly less "gray matter" than those they were measured against. More white matter – the wiring in the brain – may provide liars with the tools necessary to master the complex art of deceit.

Pathological liars have have highly verbal skills and are able to understand the mindset of the other person, while suppressing their own emotions to pull it off manipulation.

Though we lose brain cells from aging, even the aging brain is capable of generating new cells (neurogenesis.) This capacity for neurogenesis, when combined with the brain's proven ability to change its structure and function in response to external stimuli, leads to the significant finding that cognitive function can be improved at virtually any stage in life.

Improving your cognitive function increases your ability to; process information; quickly; complete more decision cycles per fixed unit of time; perform multiple tasks simultaneously (multi-tasking); retrieve old information more rapidly; learn new information more easily; concentrate in the presence of distractions; faster physical reflexes and sharper visual discrimination (the messages sent from our eyes are interpreted and assembled by the region of the brain called the visual cortex.)

Cherish your cognitive abilities by having a good diet and exercise habits to reduce the likelihood that you'll develop high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, all of which can decrease blood flow to your brain.

Using tobacco products generates free radicals that impair the message transfer process (neuron to neuron) within the brain. Abuse of alcohol not only impairs the message transfer process in the same manner as smoking, but also causes the destruction of brain cells.

Stress causes your body to pump out increased levels of the hormone cortisol. Excessive cortisol levels can lead to the destruction of neurons in the hippocampus (the learning and memory center of the brain.)

Recent studies have shown that there is a targeted and effective way to improve your brain processing speed - the use of highly interactive mental challenges called Elementary Cognitive Tasks (ECT.)

These ECTs, also known as Brain Speed Training Exercises, provide a vigorous brain workout by isolating the specific region of the brain that you are exercising.

By pushing yourself to respond as rapidly as you can to the random stimuli contained in the exercise, you increase the delivery of oxygen, blood flow, and various critical amino acids to that particular brain region. The end result is more neurons, more neural connections and increased brain processing speed.

Interesting suff isn't it? Have a braingasmic weekend everyone.

Learn something, do something great, make a memory that will last a lifetime.

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Echo

A man and his son were walking in the forest. Suddenly the boy trips and feeling a sharp pain he screams, “Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Surprised, he hears a voice coming from the mountain, screaming, “Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Filled with curiosity, he screams, “Who are you?,” but the only answer he receives is, “Who are you?”

This makes him angry, so he screams, “You are a coward,” and the voice answers, “You are a coward.”

He looks at his father and asks, “Dad, what is going on?”

“Son,” his father replies, “Pay attention.” The father then screams, “I admire you.”

The voice answers, “I admire you.”

The father shouts, “You are wonderful”, and the voice answers, “You are wonderful.”

Then the father explains, “People call this ECHO, but truly it is LIFE. Life always gives you back what you give out. Life is a mirror of your actions. If you want more love, give more love.

If you want understanding and respect, give understanding and respect. If you want people to be patient, give patience. This rule of nature applies to every aspect of our lives.

Life always gives you back what you give out. Your life is not a coincidence, but a mirror of your own doings.”

~Anonymous


What are you echoing in your life?

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Free Yourself

“A human being is a part of the whole
called by us universe,
a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself,
his thoughts and feeling as something
separated from the rest,
a kind of optical delusion of
his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us,
restricting us to our personal desires
and to affection for a few persons
nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves
from this prison by widening our
circle of compassion to embrace
all living creatures and the
whole of nature in its beauty.”

~Albert Einstein

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Wonder

“People travel to wonder
at the height of the mountains,
at the huge waves of the seas,
at the long course of the rivers,
at the vast compass of the ocean,
at the circular motion of the stars,
and yet they pass by themselves
without wondering.”

~Saint Augustine

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I Love Stories Like This

My friend Alex sent me this story that is so sweet that I wanted to share it with you all. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks Alex. This makes my day every time I read it and hopefully it will hit your heart in just the right place.


Alexys,

This is one of the kindest things I've ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a beautiful Soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.

She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven.

We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven.

That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought God had gotten it.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, "To Meredith," in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, "When a Pet Dies."

Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:


Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven.

Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog.

Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me.

What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,
God

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The Pursuit

We are a week into the new year and some of us who have made new year's resolutions have already abandoned them, while others are carrying over the baggage from last year into this year.

Whether we have made resolutions or not, it is time to start anew.

There still may be old emotional sediment in our mind, heart, and consciousness from various situations that didn’t turn out in our favor.

Let’s burn those old feelings in effigy before they get etched into our Souls any deeper.

It’s time to do a few things we may have put off. I am not talking about resolutions, I am just referring to your ‘To Do’ list. That list that keeps getting longer, while our time is getting shorter.

There is a technique in the pursuit of happiness that makes it more palatable. If there is really something that we want to do, we can visualize it first.

We must see ourselves doing it. See ourselves experiencing it. Clock how we feel. Manifest the sensations. Imagine that we have already accomplished it.

The pursuit of the prize (anything that we want to accomplish), creates a space in our minds for receiving the prize. That is to say that it prepares us for the end result.

Do you know that before we accomplish anything, we have already accomplished it? It’s true. There’s a duality that exists between our mind and our Soul.

Our mind paints the picture provided by our Soul. These two entities are coworkers in our consciousness.

We tread the boards of our internal stage and dress rehearse in front of our conscious audience. We practice for hours until we make the goal, the shot, the home run, the touchdown, the finish line, match point - -we know the sensation of winning before we win. We don’t forget the feeling.

We have already had the moment of glory in our heads. When we accomplish it again in our waking life, it’s just the technicality of our Soul guiding us back to that moment.

We have already won. Knowing that IS the prize.

I want you all to win and accomplish what you want to do. There is even a little bonus that goes along with winning.

Sometimes when I wake up and think about all of the work that I have to do and whether I will be able to get through it all, I take a step back and say to myself,

'The only thing you have to do today is love.'

This simple mantra gives me more time to do everything with love. In doing so, I am not pressed for time in any way. In fact, I have more time to love the moment.

It is only through love that we will be able to accomplish anything.

From relationships, career, goals, to interacting with others; without love and without the purpose to give it away, our hearts would be left frozen over a lake of ice; in the cold, hard existence of life without any sun. Love guides the sun back into our hearts and breaks the ice.

There is no time to think about time. The time you take “thinking” about time is the time you could have spent "doing" something.

Adding love to your daily tasks will help them go a lot easier. Love should always be a natural pronouncement in your heart, spirit, action and pursuit of happiness.

When we close our eyes at night and they roll back into that time machine in the sky, we remember with tactile sensation, the roles we play in life are the reality of our consciousness.

We are only reflecting light that bounces off of the waves of God in a performance of a lifetime.

We are quick to criticize time for not warning us that it is going too fast and that we would miss it as soon as it passed, but time is a master artist that sketches our faces, shades and contours our lives in magnificent ways that illustrate amazing landscapes across the horizon of our Soul.

We can’t wait for time to do something. We have to do it now. Now IS the time.

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Your Soul Mission

“Your soul mission is your
reason for being,
your life purpose.
It's your calling in life -
who you feel called to be,
what you feel called to do.
Mission is an energy that
flows through you -
a drive, voice, or passion that
you cannot ignore.
It's what you know in your heart
that you must live if
you are to experience
inner peace and harmony.”

~Alan Seale

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Keepsake

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.

Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors.

Keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits.

Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.

Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

~Gandhi

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New Year's Resolutions Tag

Max has tagged me with a fun game about New Year's resolutions.

If you would like to play, just follow the directions below.

*Start Copy Here*

When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions we seem to fall into four categories: 1) quite serious about them, 2) be flippant about them, 3) do it because we feel pressured to, or 4) do not do them.

So, the purpose of this little game is to let us know which category you are in.

Copy from “*Start Copy Here*” through “*End Copy Here*” and post it. Before "*End Copy Here*" tell us who you are, your site(s) (with link) and your New Year’s Resolution, or not. (Post your site at the end of the list inside the little box.)

Then tag as many others as you like, from one to your entire blogroll, your choice.

If you like, create an intro paragraph to your post that also acknowledges who tagged you.


NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS:

Juliana – Juliana's Site - My New Year's resolutions are looking for a part time job, keep blogging, and learn to cook and bake.

Michelle - Rusin Roundup - 1. Learn to be happier and accept myself for who I am, 2. Is to lose about 25 lbs., and 3. Is to stop smoking.

Karen - Grow Rich Along With Me - My resolution for next year is to achieve $3K per month passive income by the end of 2008.

Mel - Attitude, the Ultimate Power & Complain Complain Complain - “I don’t need no stinking resolutions.” I never hold to them anyway so why frustrate myself by starting them now.

Sandee - Comedy Plus - I don't need no stinking resolutions either. Years and years ago I did them because everyone else did, but not once did I follow through. Why set yourself up for failure?

Lynda - lynda's loft - My resolution is to see resolve to that which needs resolution. Like Mel and Sandee, I feel that resolutions give us more stress, however, being a person who sets goals each year, isn't that the same thing as a resolution??? Goals vs. resolutions? Goals are more general and allow for more time to complete them, a resolution requires a mind-set and immediate action, which is not always feasible... Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

Amelia - Amel's Realm - This is a list of my New Year's Resolution:1. Health: Continue exercising twice a week, eat enough veggies and fruit, have enough rest, take vitamin C regularly and women's multivitamin during my period.2. Spiritual: Improve my Daily Bread reading routine and my prayer life and learn more from God's Word.3. Financial: Continue to make money online (my goal is getting €100 per month at least), be more creative in writing posts, and save most of the money.4. General Life: Continue to learn Finnish AND practice it as best and often as I can, try out more baking and cooking recipes, continue to maintain and share positive thoughts, continue to learn to control my thoughts, continue to learn to catch myself before I start complaining and count my blessings instead, continue to stop and cherish all the little moments in life that oftentimes go unnoticed, and continue to feed my inner child and last but not least, continue to ENJOY my life thoroughly.

Max - MAX - My New Year's resolutions are to dedicate more time to my friends; to finally be able to read "Der Spiegel" in German; to be calm when organizing my marriage; to go one last time to my favourite club and dance the night away; and continue to be happy!

Eric - Speedcat Hollydale - I love chicken. Problem is that I really never get to have enough chicken! My New Year's resolution is to enact "Chicken Tuesday". On this day I will eat only chicken, blog about chicken, and promote chickens all over the world. (hormone free) Join me, won't you?

Marzie - Mariuca & Mariuca's Perfume Gallery - My resolution for 2008 is to enjoy a healthier lifestyle and to expand my Perfume Collection.

Sindi- Life Is A Roller Coaster - My resolution is to complain less, pray more and be a little more thankful for what I have.

Judy - Sugar Queen's Dream - My New Year's resolution is:To take better care of my health.To eat better, well at least 3 meals a day, I'm lucky these days if I stop for one meal a day....To help make the world a better place to live, I love the human race, but think there’s always room for change. To be generous until it hurts.To live each day as if it's my last.To make a book of our personal family recipes and traditions for each of my 3 my children, so that the traditions and family cooking can be passed on in my family line long after I'm gone and finally....... To help more with the local Human society, Animals like little kids can not fend for themselves so it's up to each of us to take care of our pets and to step in and care for all animals.....I hope that through me I can encourage my Children to be better adults and in turn to raise the Children they have or will have, to be good people with good, sound & solid values.... Peace!

Adrian - First Time Dad - My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 is to be a better father…now I don’t usually make New Year's resolutions because I never keep them but this one I better keep! Happy New Year to one and all!

Colin - Life - New Years Resolution? No way...Better to achieve more throughout the year rather than pander to the whims of a one day 'wishful thought'

Mauro - 1 Million Love Messages - My resolution for next year are: 1. Change my job (maybe work online). I'm really unhappy in the actual one. 2. Dedicate more time to my family and girlfriend... maybe start to get ready for our wedding :-) 3. Work hard in 1 Million Love Messages and reach 2500 Love messages (or more) in the end of 2008.

MidgetManOfSteel - Mental Poo - To get out of dealing with people who I have no desire in helping at the job I’m doing…catch the eye of someone who can see that I can write and be funny…and get my own ticket to happiness from my humor….and a Ferrari. While I’m doing this, I resolve to get a Ferrari.

Stacy - My Thoughts - My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 - Is to be more understanding to my children and to other people, Not to curse at others while I am driving, try to eat right and exercise, try to volunteer in my community, and to believe more in my spiritual side.

Jason - DatCurious.com & DatMoney.com - Although, I normally don't do New Year's Resolutions (because I find it as an excuse to actually do something I should've already been doing), this year I will plan on giving back to the blogging community, especially my audience. I'm not sure how I will do it yet, but I definitely will.

Kesa - Little Aussie Cynic - My New Years Resolution is the standard..... to finally get off the smokes and to loose 8kg.... both which are possible just difficult.....Happy New Year to you and yours….Aussie

Ann - A Nice Place in the Sun - "To let the rest of my life begin as soon as possible."

Alexys Fairfield - Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique and Speak The Speech - My permanent New Year's resloution is to have no resoultions! It’s worked for me all my life. Just living in the moment of love and gratitude is my motto. If we remember to have a clean heart, we never have to watch our step. When we treat people the way we want to be treated, we will always be treated well. Be good to everyone.

*End Copy Here*

I would like to tag;

Annie
Bon Ami
Crushed
Eve
Maithri
Michelle

You all have the option to decline, but it may be fun if you’d like to participate. Thanks for being sports.

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That Auld Scottish Song

Welcome to the New Year. How do you like it so far? It’s a brand new day. You get to start fresh again. Leave the baggage in the past.

Just for you, I have gathered some New years trivia to get your brain firing once again and to get you ready for the changes that will take place this year.

Are you ready?

I know many people had champagne last night to ring in the New Year, but did you know that a raisin dropped into a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top?

The irregular surfaces on the raisins hold some of the carbon dioxide bubbles. When enough bubbles accumulate to lift the weight of the raisin, it rises to the surface. Some of the air bubbles escape into the atmosphere, and the raisin, which is denser than the champagne, sinks to the bottom to start the cycle over again.

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring.)

Because of the division of the globe into time zones, the new year moves progressively around the globe into the New Year. The first time zone to usher in the New Year is just west of the International Date Line. That's when the time zone to the east of the Date Line is 23 hours behind, still in the previous day. The residents on the central Pacific Ocean island of Kiritimati (Christmas Island), the eastern-most island in the island nation of Kiribati claim to be the first to usher in the New Year.

The Line Islands that are part of the Republic of Kiribati are in a time zone with the earliest time in the world: UTC + 14. The time of day is the same as in Hawaii, but one day ahead. It is even a full 26 hours ahead of some other islands in the Pacific.

The island nation of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean is only UTC+13, putting it one hour behind the Line Islands of Kiribati. Tonga is literally the place where time begins - as the first country west of the International Dateline in the Pacific. The country's nickname is, "The Land Where Time Begins."

The Scotch tune, Auld Lang Syne literally means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days." It is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, it was first published in 1796 after Burns' death. Early variations of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the modern rendition.

The birthplace of Auld Lang Syne is also the home of Hogmanay (hog-mah-NAY), the rousing Scottish New Year's celebration. One of the traditions is "first-footing." Shortly after midnight on New Year's eve, neighbors pay visits to each other and impart New Year's wishes. Traditionally, First foots used to bring along a gift of coal for the fire, or shortbread. It is considered especially lucky if a tall, dark, and handsome man is the first to enter your house after the New Year is rung in. The Edinburgh Hogmanay celebration is the largest in the country and consists of an all-night street party.

In Scotland, Auld Lang Syne is often sung at the end of a céilidh or a dance. Everyone joins hands with the person next to them to form a circle around the dance floor. When the last verse starts, everyone crosses their arms across their breast so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbor on the left and vice versa. During the last chorus people might start jumping up and down. When the tune ends everyone rushes to the middle while still holding hands. When the circle is reestablished, everyone turns under the arms to end up facing outwards with hands still joined.

The New Year is the most important holiday in Japan and is a symbol of renewal. In December, various Bonenkai or "forget-the-year parties" are held to bid farewell to the problems and concerns of the past year and prepare for a new beginning. Misunderstandings and grudges are forgiven and houses are scrubbed. At midnight on Dec. 31, Buddhist temples strike their gongs 108 times, in a effort to expel 108 types of human weakness. New Year's day itself is a day of joy and no work is to be done. Children receive otoshidamas, small gifts with money inside. Sending New Year's cards is a popular tradition if postmarked by a certain date, the Japanese post office guarantees delivery of all New Year's cards on Jan. 1.

The Spanish ritual on New Year's eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure twelve happy months in the coming year.

The Dutch burn bonfires of Christmas trees on the street and launch fireworks. The fires are meant to purge the old and welcome the new.

In Greece, New Year's day is also the Festival of St. Basil, one of the founders of the Greek Orthodox Church. One of the traditional foods served is Vassilopitta or St. Basil's cake. A silver or gold coin is baked inside the cake. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake will be especially lucky during the coming year.

The tradition of using a baby to signify the New Year was started in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.

Probably the most famous tradition in the United States is the dropping of the New Year ball in Times Square, New York City, at 11:59 P.M. Thousands gather to watch the ball make its one-minute descent, arriving exactly at midnight. The tradition first began in 1907. The original ball was made of iron and wood; the current ball is made of Waterford Crystal, weighs 1,070 pounds, and is six feet in diameter.

Another American tradition is the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Tournament of Roses parade that precedes the football game on New Year's day is made up of elaborate and inventive floats. The first parade was staged in 1890.

It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year's resolutions, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since. The early Christians believed the first day of the New Year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the New Year.

Noisemaking and fireworks on New Year's eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck. The Chinese are credited with inventing fireworks and use them to spectacular effect in their New Year's celebrations.

The 1st of January was a highly significant day in medieval superstitions regarding prosperity, or lack of it, in the year ahead. A flat cake was put on one of the horns of a cow in every farmyard. The farmer and his workers would then sing a song and dance around the cow until the cake was thrown to the ground. If it fell in front of the cow that signified good luck; to fall behind indicated the opposite.

Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends.

Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the New Year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity.

Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.

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