If you are planning a major home renovation, an addition or landscaping, don’t forget about your neighbors. Although you may be willing to put up with the dust, dirt, debris and noise in order to improve the value of your home, your neighbors may not see it in the same light!

Within a subdivision or where there are other properties close to yours. Your construction project will be an annoyance to the neighbors. This can affect the relationship with your neighbors for years to come.

What might they face?

• Noise from vehicles, power tools, and other mechanical equipment coupled with a continuous noise of driving in nails and banging on metal ventilation pipes can be extremely annoying. Your neighbors, who feel they have the right to a peaceful lifestyle, while at home, can truly be upset. Small children need to have afternoon naps, as well if you have neighbors who work night shifts and need to sleep during the day, they will not be allowed to accomplish their goals.
• The numerous trucks parked on the street, in front of your neighbor’s homes, may create driving and parking problems. This can also create a safety problem if there are a lot of young children in the neighborhood.
• All that is needed is a little wind and dirt, dust, waste construction materials, and garbage will conveniently end up on your neighbor’s properties.
• The closer your neighbors home to yours, the more of an annoyance it will be. Where homes have side-by-side driveways, heavy vehicles may do actual damage to your neighbor’s property.
• Your neighbor’s may have to put up with an unappealing visual image of a garbage dumpster and tons of building materials in your driveway for an extended period of time.
• A situation that can be uncomfortable not only to your neighbors, but to your own family is inappropriate language used by the work crews. (This is something that should be discussed with all contractors at the time of contract. Contractors should be informed that inappropriate language will not be tolerated under any conditions).

What can you do to help reduce the pain and anguish suffered by your neighbors as you increase the value of your property?

• The first point is to notify your neighbors before the project starts. Don’t let them wake-up to the sound of trucks rolling into your driveway. If you tell your neighbors what you are going to do, how long it is going to take and that you will do everything in your power not to inconvenience them, it will go along way to peace and harmony.
• Be sensitive to the hours of the day. Tell contractors that they can only work between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. There is nothing worse than being woken up, or not being able to enjoy your dinner. If possible, don’t allow contractors to work on weekends.
• Ensure that the contractors understand that they are responsible for any and all damage to your neighbor’s properties.
• Ensure that the contractors understand that they are responsible and that it is a priority, that they retrieve and cleanup any and all garbage and/or debris that ends up on your neighbor’s property. All though this applies to all home renovation, remodel or landscaping projects, it is especially important with any roofing project. Roofing projects have a tendency to have enormous amounts of debris scattered for long distances.
• If it is a project such as landscaping or an addition where a lot of the work is being done outside, you should ensure that the work area is properly protected in order to prevent children from using your construction zone as a playground with the possibility that they could get injured.
• If your project is raising a lot of dust, it is a good gesture to provide your neighbors with car wash coupons. On the same note, it may be appropriate to offer to have your neighbor’s windows and siding washed.
• Once the project is fully complete, people can hear themselves think again and the garbage has been hauled away throw a neighborhood barbeque and don’t be cheap, hamburgers for the kids, steaks for the adults and you supply the beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages. The neighbors will be dieing to see what you have done to your home to see if they might be an annoyance to you and your family in the near future.

For additional information on home improvement, remodel or renovation projects, including landscaping and gardening, visit Renovation Headquarters.

The prime directive of parenting says that all young have a right to expect that those who bore them will raise them to maturity. For many animals, it’s no big deal. Mom lays eggs, Dad fertilizes and the job is done.

But for we humans, it’s a different kettle of fish. Our kids take about twenty years to reach maturity and they need us all along the way!

Is Sacrifice and Dirty Word?

One parenting debate I’ve increasingly been hearing is who comes first? Should parents sacrifice for their kids or should parents care for themselves first? If we give up everything for our kids do we run the risk of raising selfish little brats who expect the world to bow down whenever they want something? If we look after ourselves first and meet all our needs do we run the risk of becoming selfish adult brats who don’t figure we should have to waste our time on the mundane and petty details of childraising?

Is there no middle ground?

Sacrifice is part of parenting. It starts the minute a woman discovers she’s pregnant. She changes her lifestyle. Suddenly the young woman who loves to have a beer after her soccer game opts for club soda. She is looking after her child first and delaying her wish for a beer, for nine months. While she wishes she could have a drink, she doesn’t feel badly, she isn’t suffering. She is, in fact, thrilled to be able to make this sacrifice to nurture the growth of a healthy fetus.

Okay, there are those of you who are saying, “But that’s different. There’s no real choice if you want a healthy baby.” All the things we do for our children - hanging out at the park when we’d rather be at home, going to parent meetings at the school instead of catching up on the laundry, using a precious holiday day to drive kids on a field trip’ all contribute to raising a healthy child who will become a mature, capable adult.

Kids First

One of the supreme ironies of parenting is that if you look after your kids first, you can look after yourself more easily. When you take a flight on an airline you are told that if the oxygen mask falls you are to put it on yourself first, then look after the others who may need your help. And that makes sense. It also takes only a few seconds.

In other arenas of our lives as parents, taking care of ourselves first means that our kids miss out. Going to the park with my kids when they were little was never my favourite experience. For my kids, going to the park was not only a joy, but important to their growth and development. They needed the exercise, the socializing, the chance to challenge their bodies and see just how far they could climb, how high they could jump. Staying home because that would meet my immediate need might have been an option, but not a responsible one. I went because it mattered to them. They would never be toddlers or preschoolers again so a trip to the park was the right thing to do then .

But, as it turned out, it did meet my needs. First, I did enjoy watching them have so much fun. I got exercise walking to and from the park, and some probably much-needed fresh air. And, more importantly, when we got home my kids were a pleasure. They were able to settle down to reasonable play, they ate well and slept soundly. So, I did get time for myself!

Difficult Times

There are times when a parent needs more than just a few quiet moments. During a marriage breakdown or when there is a death in the family the question of adult-care and child-care is more fragile.

But, I believe that we still need to put the kids first because they just don’t have any of the adult resources or experience to help them deal with the crisis.

When I was a girl my mother died. My father found himself the single parent of four young daughters. He totally organized his life to look after us. He was there after school, he was available for us to talk about our concerns and fears in the evening. Mom was gone, but the parenting continued. Later, I learned that after we were settled for the night, he would go to the home of his best friend and unburden himself. It was an example of amazing parenting.

Needs and Wishes

So, let’s get back to talking about a middle-ground. The real problem comes when a parent doesn’t look after herself at all. Putting kids first doesn’t mean denying yourself the care you need. My dad cared for my sisters and me first. Then he looked after himself.

As I mentioned, when you care for your kids’ needs, you will have more time because you will have better-behaved and happier kids. But there is a difference between their needs and their wishes. My kids needed all the values they got from trips to the park when they were little. They might have wished to gorge on junk food, race around the house wildly or have me catering to their every desire, but it didn’t happen. That wasn’t a need.

It’s all about balance. There will be times when you sacrifice or delay your needs to look after your kids. But the pay-off is happier and healthier kids. And isn’t that what we really want?

Kathy Lynn, is a professional speaker, broadcaster, columnist and author of Who’s In Charge Anyway? How Parents Can Teach Children to Do the Right Thing. For information or to book Kathy for a speaking engagement, go to her website at http://www.ParentingToday.ca

If you want the most portable and easy-to-use device to play music on, you will need an mp3 player and some music stored as mp3 music files. Not only is this the technology that will replace other music players soon, but it is the most advanced way to play music. It’s also so easy to download music from the Internet in mp3 format that you’ll never have to go to a record store again once you have an mp3 player.

MP3 technology is easy to use, but there are a few differences between this and other music technologies. An mp3 player is a digital audio player that organizes and stores mp3 music files, and of course plays them as well. An mp3 player is a more common name for a digital audio player. These players can play other types of files, which are often associated with a brand. Windows Media Audio, Advanced Audio Coding and mp3 music files can be played on these efficient audio players.

There are various other music download formats you may find other than mp3 music files, such as Janus and Fairplay, which are part of some subscription-based music download sites. There are other varieties of patent-free file formats, as well.

Three different types of mp3 players can be found on the market. Flash players are digital audio devices that hold mp3 music files and other file formats on internal or external media such as memory cards. These have storage capacity ranging from 128 megabytes to 8 gigabytes, which is smaller than some other mp3 players. The new iPod Nano would be included in this category, for example. Flash mp3 players can be updates with additional memory, though. These types of mp3 players can often be integrated into USB keydrives, and are very resilient players.

Hard drive mp3 players, or digital jukeboxes, are digital audio players that read mp3 music files from a hard drive. This type of mp3 player has a higher capacity than the flash player; generally from 1.5 gigabytes to 160 gigabytes. This allows people to transfer entire music collections they have on CD to mp3 music files and store them in one digital audio player. Consumers can add downloadable music from various commercial web sites and free music download services as well. There are also hard drive players for video and picture files. These can also be just as portable as the smaller flash players, just slightly bigger. Popular hard drive mp3 players include the Apple iPod, Creative Zen and Microsoft Zune are examples of popular digital jukeboxes.

The last type of mp3 player is the mp3 CD player. These play regular CDs you buy at the store as well as CDs with mp3 music files and other types of downloadable music files. It’s easy to transfer music downloads to CD format. It’s also easy to transfer your CDs into mp3 music files, so you don’t have to worry about your old music collections aver being outdated formats.

MP3 technology is the music format of today, and should remain the top audio technology for quite some time. New gadgets and improved quality should be the only changes to mp3 technology in the near future.

For more info about mp3 music download stores or about MP3 and even about songs

If you live in Alaska and you are looking for access to programs in massage therapy, you will find Alaskan massage therapy schools in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks. You might also find short programs of intensive study of various styles of massage that allow earning of degrees, certificates, and diplomas in massage therapy.

Comprehensive curriculums are vital to proper massage therapy education, and there are massage therapy schools in Alaska that offer excellent programs in the natural healing art of massage.

Curriculums in massage schools will include fundamentals of massage commonly used in promoting physical and mental wellness. Massage education includes hands-on training which allows students clinical practice under the supervision of instructors. This will ensure development of experience and skills needed to go into massage practice upon graduation.

An education obtained in good massage therapy schools will provide knowledge of anatomy and physiology, as well as different massage styles and forms. Communication and business skills may also be provided to promote the development of successful relationships and business practices.

Accredited massage therapy schools may provide flexible schedules for students who are balancing jobs, family life, and school. They may also have financial aid services for their students. Your massage therapy training may even spark an interest in a more advanced area of natural healing, such as acupuncture or chiropractic.

Alaska presently has no state regulations that affect massage therapists. Cities and regions may, however, have rules or laws that are to be followed by massage therapists, and city and regional governments may regulate permits and zones where the massage therapy is practiced. Students graduating from massage therapy schools in Alaska should contact local authorities in court houses, town halls, or county offices before setting up a practice.

To learn more about Massage Therapy Schools in Alaska, and even Online Massage Therapy Schools, search our site for more in-depth information and resources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved by Media Positive Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are free to use this article on an ezine or website, provided the article is reprinted in its entirety, including copyright and disclaimer, and ALL links remain intact and active.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. Find Massage Therapy Schools, Colleges, Universities, Vocational Schools, Acupuncture Schools and other Alternative Medicine Schools at SchoolsGalore.com; your educational resource to locate schools.

If you want your house to look clean, classy and welcoming, you may want to switch around furniture and change the way that you take care of storage. If you are trying to make the most of the space you have, there are some simple things that you can do to assist in your plight.

There are some great furniture tricks, for example, switching around bedroom furniture can help make your room look bigger if you place more items of furniture against the wall, thereby creating a large space in the middle of the room. Storage should be easy.

If you are just waiting to move into the more perfect home that will have more closets, a bigger garage or attic, or perfect built-in storage, you can end your search and organize your belongings and furniture so that you have more space without paying.

You should start your storage project by deciding what you really need in each room.

You can find standard open wall shelves of any size at a home improvement center for an inexpensive storage solution for books and decorative objects.

A structured wall unit or entertainment center can house books and electronic equipment and provides space for decorative displays. If you’re going to stay in your home for a while, you might want to invest in custom-made shelves or cabinets. Any of these solutions gives lots of storage space without protruding too much into the living area.

Make sure that you get rid of things that you do not use by donating it, or at least moving it into the garage or basement, out of sight.

Once you’ve decided what you really want and need in each room, look around the room for areas of storage. Is there any open, empty space? Make sure that you do not just look on tables or closets. Look at your furniture, your bed, your closets, your cupboards. Any open space can be potential storage space for you.

Do you see an open space in a china cabinet, under a sofa table, or under an entry table? Use this space to stack wooden chests, beautifully covered cardboard boxes, or lidded baskets to store memorabilia, magazines, family photos, games, videos or computer disks.

In addition, you should try to increase storage space by enclosing shelves and cupboards behind doors. Instead of using an open one, choose a bookcase with doors. A twelve inch deep shelving unit gives great storage without taking up much floor space.

Choose a table for the end of a sofa or beside a bed that has a closed base with drawers or shelves rather than spindly open legs. Find a knee-hole desk with drawers for files and office items rather than an open writing desk.

For more info about modern furniture or about oak bedroom furniture and even about oak furniture please review one of these links.

There is no doubt that the nation’s housing market has tendencies to hit some low points, but the market for land properties is a different story. In many states across the United States, there are ample properties for sale, be it ranch land, hunting land, or vacant land for sale for potential residential properties. Recently, there has been a rush to purchase land for sale from recreational land to the mountainous woodlands. Many people invest in land properties while prices are so low and affordable, with plans to create a retirement home.

In some ways, buying land and buying a second home are similar. They both have the potential to make money. A second house can make money through rental income. Land can make money through leases for farming, hunting, fishing, ranching, etc. Also, when buying a second home and buying land keep in mind that the most important component when looking for land for sale is location, location, location.

Because of the affordable acreage for sale, more people are finding vacant land for sale. It is said that remote backlands are now becoming popular since riverfront properties are being taken. But the land for sale has often times gone through the typical story; a picture perfect piece of land that stays just that-something to look at- but nothing more. When looking at vacant land for sale, it is important to ask the question: will a house be built? If so, take into consideration how electrical power and water can get to the property.

Also, if land properties are being bought as investments, remember that it might be tougher to sell if people are looking for houses, not land for sale. The US has 1.5 billion acres of rural land, which is estimated to be about 65% of the country. The prices of the land for sale vary widely, with rural land for sale costing about $250 an acre, while forest land for sale in Iowa is $3,000 an acre, and $27,000 an acre in Colorado for pieces of riverfront properties.

In some cases, it might make a lot of sense to buy land farther in advance if there is any intention of building on the property. Properties and land for sale tend to go fast, especially the scenic plots that many people are fond of.

When looking at land for sale, it might help to have a local land agent that can survey the land. Often times the property lines are not defined as well, and soils may be too soft to support a building in the spot that is intended to be built on. Also pay attention to the accessibility of the particular piece of land. Some properties have make-shift roads that end up not being legal roads.

In urban areas, properties are often zoned to prevent certain types of buildings. Rural land for sale, however, does not contain any zoning, so a dream property could one day be surrounded by shopping centers or mobile homes. Any local land agent will also be able to look up zoning permits and other caveats for the property and other land for sale around it.

Prices of land for sale often don’t move in the same flow as housing prices. Home prices generally follow the trend of inflation rates. But for land properties, price appreciation typically ties in more closely with the potential of activities such as farming. In general, land prices do not fall as drastically as housing prices, since a housing market can be overbuilt, but land can’t. On the other hand, land prices can be greatly affected by recreational demand. Land has become such a profitable investment recently, that the higher demand is increasing the prices of land for sale.

For more info about east texas real estate or about farm and ranch real estate and even about farm land please review one of these links.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is not uncommonly diagnosed in patients with neck pain who also have pain down the arm, tingling and numbness and cold feeling in the affected hand.
Many patients with cervical nerve root irritation will also get this diagnosis. When the diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome is entertained, treatment using surgery for the relief of symptoms is often discussed.

Before considering surgery, patients must be treated as conservatively as possible since most of the symptoms attributed to thoracic outlet syndrome is often caused by pain and spasm of muscles of the neck and shoulder girdle from presence of multiple level cervical nerve root irritation.

Therefore the need for conservative management must be underscored since many patients who undergo thoracic outlet syndrome surgery continue to be in the same degree of pain as before the surgery and some of them have even more pain than before the surgery.

True nerve related thoracic outlet syndrome in the general population is indeed very rare (one case per million).

Thoracic outlet syndrome involves the lower trunk of the brachial plexus, the subclavian artery and vein, or both, at any point between the base of the neck and the arm-pit (axilla). The lower trunk of the brachial plexus and the blood vessels (subclavian artery and vein) can be entrapped in the neck before the level of the scalene muscles, or between the scalenus anterior and medius muscles or beyond these muscles in the space between the clavicle and first rib (costoclavicular region) or by pressure of the pectoralis minor muscle.

In true nerve related thoracic outlet syndrome, there is wasting of the affected thumb muscles due to stretching or angulation of the lower trunk of the brachial plexus over a fibrous band. This fibrous band extends from a small cervical rib or an elongated transverse process of the C7 vertebra, to the first rib. The patients may be affected only on one side although x-ray abnormalities of presence of the cervical rib and the elongated transverse process of the C7 vertebra may be found on both sides.

Since it is the T1 nerve root that is usually angulated or stretched over this fibrous band, the hand wasting or weakness is usually found in the thumb muscles.

The thumb muscle wasting found in thoracic outlet syndrome is similar to that found in carpal tunnel syndrome. However, in thoracic outlet syndrome, the numbness of the fingers is in the last two digits (ring and little fingers) supplied by the ulnar nerve.
In carpal tunnel syndrome, complaints of numbness is primarily in the thumb, index finger, middle finger and the thumb side of the ring finger in the distribution of the median nerve.
In addition to complaints of numbness in the last two digits of the affected hand, the patient with thoracic syndrome also has complaints of numbness in the distribution of the medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm which supplies the inner aspect of the forearm.
The inner aspect of the forearm is not supplied by the ulnar nerve and sensory abnormalities in this distribution indicate abnormalities of the lower trunk of the brachial plexus.

The patient with T1 nerve root irritation from a neck problem will also complain of numbness in the inner aspect of the forearm but in T1 spinal nerve root lesions, the conduction studies of the medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm are not affected.
In thoracic outlet syndrome, there will be abnormalities of the conduction studies of the medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm.

A thorough electrodiagnostic examination is essential to differentiate carpal tunnel syndrome involvement of the median nerve at the wrist or ulnar nerve involvement at the elbow from presence of thoracic outlet syndrome.

To get a true diagnosis of nerve related thoracic outlet syndrome, these peripheral nerve entrapment syndromes must not be present. If the peripheral nerve entrapment syndromes are present, thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosis must not be entertained first.
Tightness of the muscles of the neck and shoulder girdle due to presence of multiple level cervical nerve root involvement from sudden trauma (as with auto-accidents) or insidious cumulative trauma to the neck (as with aging) can produce pain symptoms similar to that of thoracic outlet syndrome.

Tightness of the muscles is the mechanism by which pain can continue even after thoracic outlet syndrome surgery since the original pain is related to mechanical vice-like affect of tight muscles on intramuscular nerves and blood vessels. The pulling effect of the tight muscles on pain-sensitive underlying bone and joints cause additional pain.

Selective muscle activation using eToims Twitch Method to electrically stimulate motor points (trigger points) is the method of choice to produce exercise effects to tight muscles.
On locating the irritated motor point, eToims Twitch Method produces an internal stretch effect that results in relaxation of tight muscles that promotes circulation, ending pain at the areas stimulated.

© 2007 copyright all rights reserved http://www.stopmusclepain.com/

neck pain| thoracic outlet syndrome.

Jennifer Chu, M.D. emeritus professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, pioneered eToims Twitch Relief Method that utilizes surface electrical stimulation to locate motor points (trigger points). The motor points are then stimulated to induce strong local muscle contractions, termed twitches. This results in reduced muscle pain and discomfort in the areas that were stimulated. The involved pain/discomfort-relieving mechanism is thought to include local muscle exercise and stretch effects.
eToims Soft Tissue Comfort Center® specializes in diagnosis and treatment which ends muscle discomfort and pain.

Digital photography can be a lot of fun and it can be frustrating. There will times where your camera won’t focus fast enough, images are blurry, or eyes will come out red. Each digital photography tip below will help you to cure these and other common frustrations.

• Shoot Lots of Pictures

  One of the best things about digital photography is that there is no cost associated with taking a picture. With traditional film photography you had to buy film and pay for development. Take advantage of this digital photography tip by taking multiple shots of the same scene. You can always delete the bad ones later.

• Learn Your Cameras Settings

  Chances are you shoot most of your pictures utilizing your camera’s “automatic” mode. This will get you average results. If you are striving for great shots, you’ll need to learn about other modes too. Take the time to read your camera’s manual to understand when to use each shooting mode.

• Pre-Focus For Instant Shots

  Ever try to capture a momentary expression of a child? The time it takes the camera to focus is often too long. Next time you are trying to catch a momentary event try this digital photography tip…pre-focus the camera. Aim the camera at your intended subject (or something the same distance away) and depress the button half-way until you get a focus lock. Hold the button there until you are ready to take your picture, then depress the button fully and the camera will take the shot instantly. It may take a little practice, but this tip is well worth it.

• Learn Basic Post-Processing

  Pictures don’t always turn out the way we want: sometimes people have red eyes, sometimes unintended objects come into the background. Here’s a digital photography tip to use after you’ve taken the picture. Many things can be cleaned up by doing some post-processing. Many tools are available that allow you to edit your photos. Each tool is different, but correcting red-eye is usually pretty straight forward. More advanced techniques (creating depth of field by blurring the background, removing unwanted items from the picture, etc.) also come in handy.

There are many other resources for digital photography tips and tricks to make your experience more enjoyable and to improve your picture quality.

http://www.mydigitalphotoclasses.com

Darren Rivers is an avid digital photography hobbyist. When he’s not out shooting pictures he spends his time maintaing a digital photography website that teaches others about digital photography equipment, how to find and evaluate digital photo classes, and much more.

Australia I do surely love ya
I’ve been to Sydney and Canberra
Thoroughly enjoyed the Taronga Zoo
Even though they overcharged us too
We got to see and pet the kangaroo
The koala and nocturnal creatures
AUS, a land full of many adventures
My first trip down under was by peradventure
I gave it a go, surfing at Bondi and Maroubra
My second trip there was mostly ministerial
My third by all means was most memorable
As it was my honeymoon with my wife Karla
We stayed in the lush Shangri-La hotel
The view of Sydney Harbour was swell
Next door was also something to tell
The Canadian embassy with flag flying
Which made Karla feel happily home
The comfy hotel bed, she wants to own
Hillsong was a spiritual experience to tell
A youthful and lively church, most phenomenal
The Royal Botanic Gardens was also wonderful
The Opera House was charming and beautiful
An exquisite and most unique architectural
Masterpiece, upon which all eyes feast.
We never made it to the Great Barrier Reef
After a week in Fiji, we just wanted some peace
No bridge climbing for the newlyweds on ease
The temperature in September did well please
The Floridian out of the sweaty summer sun
Plus the Aussies seemed like loads of fun
Witty, clever, and kind most of the time
Near the ferries, aborigines sat like transients
Playing for us their peculiar annoying instruments
A woman posed as the queen in gold, fully painted
Shop keepers sold merchandise undaunted
With many of the prices we weren’t delighted
Yet the gelato proved plenteous and delicious
We bought a little clothing, not too pretentious
Our final evening, we did a lovely dinner cruise
Very relaxed, with time to meditate and muse
Luna Park was brilliantly lit up like the moon
We were as joyous as kids in a crazy cartoon
Australia is a place I highly recommend to you
This vast and glorious country has much to do.

Paul Davis is a FL real estate professional, life coach (relational & professional), worldwide minister, and change master.

Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Adultery: 101 Reasons Not to Cheat; Are You Ready for True Love; Stop Lusting & Start Living; Waves of God; Supernatural Fire; Poems that Propel the Planet; and God vs. Religion.

Paul’s compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has served in many war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His Dream-Maker Inc. is building dreams, breaking limitations & reviving nations.

Paul’s Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to minister, speak at your event or for life coaching: RevivingNations@yahoo.com, 407-284-1705.

For additional info:
http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com
http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV

About two months ago, my boyfriend and I (and our puppy!)
embarked on an exciting adventure. We decided that even though
we loved the cozy life we had built in California, we were both
ready for new challenges and experiences. So with as much
planning and organizing as we could handle, we packed up and
moved to Boston.

After a couple of months here on the east coast, I’m ready to
trade in all of the new challenges and experiences for a little
familiarity and peace. But unfortunately, I am smack dab in the
middle of this major life change. So instead of running back to
the life that was familiar, but (okay, I admit it) a little
monotonous, I’ve decided to jump in with both feet to create a
new life that is just as wonderful on the east coast… and one
that fits me a little better, too.

Are you in the middle of a major life transition? If so, here
are a couple of things to keep in mind to help you through the
difficult times:

1. Remind yourself that this is a PHASE. Big life changes
often leave us feeling out of whack, like the rug has been
pulled out from under us. Even when the change is good, we can
feel as though things will never be normal again. And as
creatures of habit, we tend to want things to go back to the way
they were, just because it’s familiar. But if we did that,
nothing in our lives would ever change or improve. Just
remember to put one foot in front of the other, try to relax and
give yourself time to create a new routine. Things will get
easier, I promise.

2. Ease up on the high expectations. Just the other day, I
wrote out a list of all of the things I had to take care of. It
was over 2 pages long! I about cried. So instead of planning
to check every item on that list off by the end of the week (my
original plan), I decided to give myself a month or two instead.

Having so many things on my mind created a lot of stress. But
on the other hand, my own expectations seemed to be causing the
most stress of all. So now I just take care of the one or two
items that seem to be the most important that day, and then
repeat my trusty mantra: “tomorrow is another day….”

3. Be PRO-active, rather than RE-active in creating your new
reality. Transitions create a lot of extra stress, whether we
choose it ourselves or life throws us curve ball. Unfortunately,
what tends to happen when we’re dealing with all of this stress
is that we pay attention to whatever new problem presents itself
in that moment. And after doing that for a few months, we
unwittingly create the habit of reacting to life, rather than
creating it. Take this opportunity to be proactive, and to
create a life that fulfills and energizes you, rather than one
where you’re always “dealing” with the most pressing issue.

Whether you’re planning a big move yourself, dealing with a
break-up, or you’ve just had a baby, you’re definitely going
through a lot. I hope that keeping these things in mind will
help you manage your own transition with a little more ease. I
can’t say that even I have been completely successful at
following my own advice, but the days I do seem to be a lot
easier. Good luck!

About the author: Sarah M. Schultz, MA, CPC is a certified
Personal Development Coach in Park City, UT. Sarah coaches
quarterlifers (adults in their 20s and 30s) who want to create
meaning and passion in their lives by building lasting committed
relationships, creating a fulfilling work/life balance, and
managing the stress of major life transitions. Receive your
free copy of her Special Report: “Five Steps to Creating a Life
You Love!” on her website at:
http://www.newheightslifecoaching.com