Why do I want something more or different than what everyday life offers? Kabbalah phrases this question like this: How does the desire for the higher force emerge?

Humanity has developed over many lifetimes; first resembling beasts, with desires only for food, family, sex and shelter; then developing through stages of wealth, power, honor and knowledge.

At the first stage of development, desires for food, family, sex and shelter are a person’s only desires. Even a totally isolated individual has these desires and tries to fulfill them. Desires conditioned by society’s influence (desires for wealth, power and honor) emerge at the next stage.

Afterwards, the desire for knowledge appears. Sciences flourish as we set out to discover where everything comes from, to find our roots. This desire for knowledge, however, still only resides within the framework of our world.

Only at the next stage does a human being desire to know the real source, one’s essence-the meaning of life. “Where do I come from?” “Who am I?” “What am I?” These questions cause discomfort and trouble a person.

Human beings are naturally egoistic. All of our desires are self-motivated and crave fulfillment. They pressure us, literally controlling our every move. The height of egoism in our world is the desire to be filled with knowledge about something above us.

What is the source of desires and how do they appear? The source of desires is suffering. Passing from one type of desire to another happens only under the influence of suffering. If I am in a balanced state, then I feel comfortable and everything is just fine. A new desire then appears, and I feel that something is missing. Now I want to experience something new, so I start trying to fulfill this desire…and this process keeps repeating itself. In other words, I am always running after new pleasures.

We are born on this planet, we live and we die trying to satisfy our countless desires. Only after many lives do we reach the state when one desire is all that remains: the desire to attain our source, the meaning of our lives. Once this final, ultimate desire appears, everything else seems unnecessary and meaningless. A person gets depressed, feeling emotionally and spiritually empty, as if nothing in this world can bring happiness. Life seems pointless and lacking something real…”What is the purpose of my life?” “Why do I exist?” These are the questions that bring people to Kabbalah.

Michael Laitman, M.S., PhD., Kabbalist, Professor of Ontology and the Theory of Knowledge, Founder and Director for the Bnei Baruch World Center for Kabbalah Studies and the ARI-Ashlag Research Institute, non-profit organizations for research and didactic activities in the field of Kabbalah.

Sewing Machines can be huge investments, cost a few hundred dollars or more for the nicer models. Therefore, it is important to know what you are doing when you go to the store to purchase a sewing machine. There are countless models from which to choose, so you need to know what you’re looking for in a sewing machine in order to find the best buy possible. Taking your time to find the best product for you will save you money and frustration in the end.

The first thing you want to understand when looking for a sewing machine is what you will be using this sewing machine to do. Will it be used for quick repairs on clothing? Will it be used heavily every day to help run your craft business? Find a sewing machine that is durable enough for your needs. If you will be sewing for hours every single day, you’re probably better off choosing a more heavy-duty machine, even if it is a little pricier, because a less expensive machine will only break down since it is not fit for heavy use.

Next, look at the extra feature of each sewing machine you are considering. Some sewing machines have settings that allow you to control the width and kind of stitch that is made. If you’ll be using your sewing machine for a variety of things, this is important for you. Also check out the foot pedal. Make sure it is comfortable and easy to use. The foot pedal should work smoothly, and you should be able to either use this pedal or a switch to backstitch easily. Check the machine to find out where all of these buttons are located.

Ask about each sewing machine’s warranty as well. Like any other mechanical device, sewing machines can stop working. If this happens to you, make sure that you are covered, at least for a year or two, so you can protect your investment. Be wary if no warranty is offered at all. This is often the case in renting centers and other discount places, because the sewing machine is not brand new. If someone previously owned the sewing machine, it might have had hard-to-fix problems that will happen again when you purchase it. Proceed with caution.

The last factor is, of course, price. Stay within the budget you set for yourself, because spending too much for extra features you don’t need is common among consumers. Visit stores when they are having sales, like after the holidays to find the very best deal on a sewing machine that can fit your every need.

Visit TheGreatBigCraftShop.com
for all your craft supplies and accessories. Both US and UK stores are available.

By investing in properties “pre-foreclosure,” you get ahead of the crowd and possibly get a great price. The downside? You may have to walk a fine line between helping an owner and taking advantage of him.

Pre-foreclosure is simply that time between when the home owner gets the notice that he is in default on the mortgage loan, and when he finally loses the home. This may be where the most money is made on “foreclosures”. By going straight to the owner before the home is lost, you are a step ahead of investors who wait for foreclosure sale or wait until the bank owns the property.

Are you taking advantage of an owner when you make a profit off of his financial troubles? Maybe. You might also be helping him make the best out of a bad situation. You really can do the latter and still make a good profit. Let’s look at some examples of how.

Example of Pre-Foreclosure Deals

There are essentially two ways to help an owner who is in default on his mortgage loan. The first is to find a way to help him stay in his home. The second is to help him salvage his credit and get something out of the home he is losing.

Most owners who are seriously in default will simply lose the home. They will also wreck their credit, and lose most or all of their equity - unless an investor steps in to help. This is why you can feel good about making a profit from a home owner in distress.

Suppose you put an ad in the paper, something to the effect of “Losing your home? Let’s talk.” You get a call from a woman who is several months behind in her mortgage payments, and is about to lose her home. With back payments, her loan balance or payoff amount is about $95,000. The home is probably worth $130,000.

You ask her about her financial situation, to determine if she has the income to eventually get caught up and make the payments on time. You ask her if she mainly wants to stay in the home or if she just doesn’t want a foreclosure on her credit report. She says that she is ready to move. She could try to sell the home to pay off the loan and have a bit of cash left over, but there isn’t time. She doesn’t want the bad credit, but she also doesn’t want to lose all of her $35,000 in equity.

You agree with her assessment of the situation. You explain that if she did try to list the property with a broker, she would have a sales commission and other costs, which together could be $10,000. She also would likely have to sell it for $120,000 to get it sold fast. In this best case scenario, she might get to keep $15,000 of her equity. But it is risky, because if it doesn’t sell and close in a few weeks she loses everything.

You tell her that you can buy the home for $107,000 and pay all the closing costs. This will leave her with $12,000 and no foreclosure on her credit report, so she may be able to borrow again for a home when she is ready. She says no. You explain that after the costs of buying and selling the home, you will make $10,000, and though you understand she is losing some equity, you just don’t do deals for less than $10,000 profit. You wish her the best.

Soon she calls back and accepts your offer rather than lose her home and equity and credit rating. You have to have a line of credit ready or cash in the bank for deals like this, because time is of the essence. You also have to treat people well. In the example above, you might even offer another $500 cash if the house is left clean and ready to sell.

Look at the numbers, paying particular attention to the expenses you’ll have in buying and selling a property. You can see that there has to be a fair amount of equity in a property to be able to help the owner and help yourself. Verify exactly what the payoff amount on the loan is before you sign any contract. Owners are often underestimating.

Other Pre-Foreclosure Examples

A friend of mine liked to help people stay in their homes when the were in default on their loan. He felt this was easier and more profitable. There are several ways to do this.
One obvious way, if there is a lot of equity in a property, is to put a second mortgage on it in exchange for making up the back payments. Sometimes a family has trouble that really is temporary, and once caught up on their mortgage payments, they will be able to pay them on time again, along with a payment to you.

Suppose the home is worth $185,000, and they owe $115,000 on it. They need $4,000 to catch up back payments and no longer be in default. A loan fee of $1,000 and interest at 5% higher than current mortgage rates might make for a decent return on your investment. A second mortgage on a property with so much equity makes it a safe investment.

Another way to help owners stay in their homes is to buy the home and rent it back to them. They get to avoid having a foreclosure on their credit report, maybe get a little cash, and they don’t have to move. You should of course, have positive cash flow and a good profit if you should need to evict them and sell the home.

You could also make it a lease-option deal. In this way, if the previous owner gets into a better financial situation, he can buy his home back. Of course the purchase price will be high enough to give you a good profit.

If you have a lot of cash to invest, you can buy the home and sell it back to the owner on payments. Of course you will have to sell it for at least $10,000 more than you bought it for, and you will have to have charge high interest. If this is likely to cause some bad feelings for the person who will be living in your investment, you may want to consider another way.

You could provide the cash for him to refinance and so keep the home. Since you may have to foreclose on the loan, so you want to do this only when there is a lot of equity. Charge high interest and high loans fees (perhaps rolled into the loan), and make it a balloon loan, with the balance due in three or five years. Explain that you do this for the profit, but it at least gives the owner a chance to keep his home, and he can refinance at better rates when he is doing better financially.

A Little Pre-Foreclosure Trick

Here is a a little trick used by an investor I met in Arizona. A holder of second mortgage in default has the right to foreclose and take the property. But in Arizona at that time (and possibly in other states - but ask an attorney), the law also said that if the holder of a second mortgage foreclosed on a property, he had the right to assume the first mortgage loan - without qualifying, and regardless of whether it was normally an assumable loan.

This investor “helped” people facing foreclosure, using this little known law. For example, suppose there is house that would make a nice little rental property. The owners owe $60,000, and it might be worth $80,000, but they are about to lose it. The payments and interest rate on the loan are lower than what is currently available.

This investor would convince the owners that rather than them losing everything, he would give them the $2,500 necessary to make up the back payments, and also $10,000 cash to walk away. Actually he loaned them the total of $12,500, and put a second mortgage on the property. But they were instructed to never pay on the loan. He made the terms outrageous enough that they weren’t inclined to anyhow.

In this way after they missed their first payment, he could start the foreclosure process. Once he had foreclosed, under the law he could assume that first mortgage with its excellent terms. Now he had a nice rental that would cash flow, and with some built-in equity from the start. The previous owners got their cash, and perhaps a big black mark on their credit report from the foreclosure.

Pre-foreclosure investing can get very creative. These few examples are just a sampling of ways it has been done.

Copyright Steve Gillman. This article was an excerpt from 69 Ways To Make Money In Real Estate. Want to know the other 68 ways? Visit http://www.99reports.com/make-money-in-real-estate.html

People today are under a lot of stress. It seems as if there is never enough time to take care of oneself, never mind getting done all the things that need to get done in any given day. Even positive situations like having a baby or starting a new job can create stress in your life.

You may feel the stress as a slightly sick feeling in your gut, or perhaps tightness in your neck or shoulders. Perhaps you have a backache that will not go away yet there is no physiological cause. What are those signals in your body telling you about your health?

First of all, the body is not able to respond to stress over a prolonged period of time, which is what brings on the health problems in the first place. Chronic stress impairs nerve cell function in the brain and can lead to emotional problems such as anxiety, anger, and irritability. This can cause you to feel confused, reduce your memory and decrease your concentration. These particular symptoms can be called depressive illness, which is a very serious problem that needs to be attended to by a professional.

The immune system can become impaired which hinders the ability of the immune cells to function. When this happens allergies, lupus, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can occur.

When subjected to repeated and long term stress, the gastrointestinal tract can develop ulcers, upset stomach, appetite loss and diarrhea. Irritable bowel disease is one common disorder that is probably caused by prolonged stress. If you are under stress for too long, your body can produce too much cortisol which can lead to abdominal weight gain.

Bone mineral density, skin rashes, impotence, loss of sexual desire, sweating, cold hands and feet, and insomnia can also be experienced - so you see, your entire body can be affected by an accumulation of stress.

What you need to understand is that chronic stress speeds the aging of the cells and ultimately wears out your body. Do what you can now to slow that process down.

With an optimistic worldview and some ways to work with the stress in your life, you can create a healthier you. Self-hypnosis can certainly help you to relax while giving yourself suggestions in how to achieve your goals, and self-hypnosis is a wonderful way to reduce stress. Regular meditation is also great. Keep a journal to release your feelings and a gratitude book to keep you positive. Exercise and eating a balanced healthy diet also help. Being with people whom you enjoy lightens the load. Doing activities that you find fun and inspiring will create a sense of wellbeing that is important. Pay close attention to the details that actually need your attention, and prioritize what really needs to be done.

Turn off the news - it is full of stress-causing information. Stay away from people whom you find annoying, negative or unsupportive. There are many ways to help relieve the stress in your life. Most importantly, focus on what you want in your life and in so doing, you are relieving yourself of a lot of the underlying causes of emotional and physical health problems in the future.

Suzanne Kellner-Zinck invites you to visit her website at: http://www.dawningvisions.net/ where you will find lots of information about hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming, a media release, monthly newsletters, and inspirational testamonials. You may contact her directly at: 781-646-8865. Please feel free to sign up for the informative Dawning Visions Enewsletter which goes out six times a year on the home page.

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes after a homeowner sells his home, he or she will look for a land contract buyout in the future. Circumstances change and a seller who created a land contract real estate note will often not want to deal with it any longer.

There are many reasons why someone would legitimately want to sell their land contract note.

Some of the more common ones include: not wanting to deal with the paperwork hassles anymore; not wanting to live with the risk of the payor defaulting on the note; needing a lump sum of cash now to fund something, whether it be a business venture, medical emergency, putting a child through college, and so on.

If you have sold property on a land contract and now want a land contract buyout of your note, you’ll be pleased to know that there are professional note buyers who will make you an offer if they deem your note potentially profitable.

A land contract is sometimes also referred to as “contract for deed.”

Land contracts give the buyer ownership of the property because the buyer receives equitable title. Like a mortgage, payments on a land contract are made in installments, not all at once.

If you are interested in a land contract buyout, therefore, you will in essence be selling the income stream you are deriving from the note.

Certain states are land contract friendly and others aren’t. One of the most land contract friendly states is Michigan, where a significant portion of houses sold are via land contract.

How much you can get for your land contract note will depend on numerous factors, and a general answer cannot be given. It will depend on your individual note if you want a land contract buyout. Speaking with a knowledgeable, competent note buyer is the only way to find out how much cash you can receive for your note.

Keep in mind, however, that your entire note need not be sold. You could sell it off wholly, or you could sell a portion of the income stream to raise cash now and retain the rest of the note for future income. In short, there is a great deal of flexibility.

However, because inflation always erodes the purchasing power of the dollar, a note buyer is going to need to buy your note at a discount to make it worth their while. Also, a land contract buyout means that the note buyer will be assuming the risk of the payor of the note defaulting. Because the note buyer takes over that risk, a discount is required for a purchase of your note.

The only question is how much of a discount will be needed to make a sale possible for you.

A professional note buyer should be willing to discuss your note with you over the telephone for a free, no obligation consultation. If anyone attempts to charge you just to discuss the possibility of a land contract buyout for your note, then that is someone you should not do business with.

Jamie has been working in the finance industry for many years and is a contributing editor to http://www.selling-your-note.com. Learn more about a land contract buyout and receive a free, no obligation quote from a professional note buyer on our website.

Everyone’s always looking for a way to relieve stress and I just happen to know what the best stress reliever in the world is, but find it interesting that it’s needed to relieve this thing called “stress”. What is stress anyway? Is there some tree out there that produces “stress” and then it gets all over our bodies, like some sort of pollen, and makes us feel stressed out? I’ve always had a hard time defining what this thing called stress actually is, but the bottom line is that I do have the cure for it.

So, what is this cure, you’re probably asking. I’ll give you a hint. Emerson and Thoreau knew all about this stress reliever over 100 years ago, and it hasn’t changed one bit since then. The cure to any stress that you may be feeling in your life is a little thing called nature. I think Albert Einstein hit the nail on the head when he said, “We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.” In what Einstein said, is the answer to why being in nature is such a stress reliever.

Simply taking a walk in nature takes your mind off of whatever it is that you’re so worried about, and whatever you’re worried about is what’s causing this feeling within you, that we all call “stress”. You can be feeling as if the worlds coming to an end, and the sound of a bird singing can stop that feeling instantly. The perfection and beauty of nature are the cure for whatever stress you may be feeling.

Just take a walk. Go outside and take a walk in nature. The act of doing this will relive your stress. If you live in a bustling area, where nature is hard to find, get up early in the morning when everyone else is asleep, and take a walk. Just being outdoors and taking a walk will relieve stress. And remember the things of nature, the birds and squirells and such, don’t feel a thing called “stress”, and you don’t have to either.

Let the God like qualities of nature envelop you and remember where it is that you came from. We all came from the same place and that place is called nature. IN the immortal words of Henry David Thoreau, “Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.”

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com He has more than 15 years of business experience and 25 years of fishing experience. He currently raises his 3 year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country…..Montana.

Start Catching More Fish!

First, find out how many magazines or newspapers are printed and how often. Be careful to get the amount printed and not the estimated readership. Most publications use a three times (3x) the printed amount when quoting their readership. This is used because it sounds better, plus most publications quote a 3x national average, which could or could not be true. Some publications may only get one or no reader per publication, and others may get many more. The amount is usually based on how popular the publication is. If a reader enjoys the publication, and there is important information about topics of interest, they’ll either save it or pass it onto others to read, who in turn will do the same.

The next thing to consider is how many aren’t picked up before the next edition hits the racks. Many publications will print large amounts, just to have a large number to quote, but by the time the next edition is distributed, as many as 50%, or more, of them haven’t been picked up. Publications that monitor locations and adjust their distribution amounts will have a smaller recycle rate. Even though they may print fewer copies, more people could be reading their publication over their competitors.

Ask the publication for a listing of locations near you and find out when they distribute to these locations. Go by a few of the locations a week after they are distributed to see how many are being placed in each of the chosen locations. Then, after another two weeks, stop by again to see how many of the publications are still on the racks. This should give you a good idea of the correct recycle rates. One more thing you should look for. Are the publications in racks unbound so that it appears time and pride are involved in placement? Also, if the publication is on a counter or table, rather than in racks, usually means the business locations of distribution themselves like the publication and are willing to give it better exposure.

The last thing you must consider is the demographics and placement of the area of distribution. Be sure that the publication is in locations that match the demographics you are trying to advertise to. For example, if you are trying to reach people that are 50 and over, you wouldn’t want to be paying to have magazines placed in a college town bar & grill that caters only to college students.

One of the many articles about advertising that can be found on the web site for Today’s Senior Magazine at http://www.todayssr.com/advertise.html

Tale of a Heart and Soul

This is an odd story (or tale)

to say the least,
where I came upon any angry old man once

in Garmish Germany, back in ‘73-.
We walked together in the surrounding hills

and thus, spotted two young boys-
with silver-white hair, perhaps three or four

years of age, playing with a wolf,
that was peaceful, joyful, quite happy….

“Awe,” said the old man in fright and spite,

Just what do we have here?”
Spooked in admiration he was,

angry for whom, knows what!
He said to me, irritatingly, “If I were that

wolf beast, I’d be wild, free and happy!

I wish, I wish, I wish I could be!”

And I do believe, sometimes when we

wish hard enough, God grants us just
that, what we want, but shouldn’t have…

a lesson perhaps, to be learned,
if not by the ‘wisher’ hopefully by others.

And then, all of a sudden, the old man

was calm, peaceful, joyful, singing a song,
wanting to play with the boys, haply,

as if he really knew them…!

(something was very wrong);

then the angry wolf, attacked him-
not me, perhaps (so I thought at the time)

it was the Old man, inside the wolf’s skin,
and the wolf inside the man,

and the wolf killed him,
and I shot the wolf…!

#1784 4-8-2007 Sometimes things happen for reasons beyond our comprehension, and simply not knowing why, so we guess at its internal structure, its motivation, reasoning, motives for being, happening, when it is the simplest of all to say what you really think and feel, and that is usually right. As in this case, perhaps the man got his wish, and envy got its revenge, one of the deadly seven sins.

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

Before you can decide how much to spend on your advertising and marketing campaign, you must decide on how often you plan to advertise. Many experts say the best time to advertise is all the time. When business is really good, advertise for even more business, but even more important, so that business doesn’t get bad. After all, every business has it’s down times, so help to eliminate or shorten them by advertising during the good times. When business is really bad, or a startup business, since you need to increase your profits, and usually the two best ways to do so is the control your expenses and to increase your customers.

Before going any further, I must address one of the many things in life that amazes me. Many businesses, in their wisdom, budget their advertising dollars and stay on budget year after year. Although, I can understand their thinking, I can never understand when a business comes across a method of advertising that is producing large unexpected numbers to their bottom line, yet still cancel because they will be going over budget. Isn’t the idea of advertising to increase your bottom line, and if so, you find a way of doing more than you ever expected, you should continue to advertise and adjust your budgetary problems. I have seen advertisers cancel their ads because they have gotten too many new customers. What, I say, while scratching my head in amazement, is always my response to this comment.

Now, to how to spend your budgeted advertising dollar. First of all, you’ll need to figure out the percentage of your incoming revenues that you can afford to spend. Don’t use your current incoming revenues, but use a projected income, including new revenues generated from your sales and marketing campaign. Please keep in mind how much you’ll be getting in return in new profits from advertising. Let’s say, that the profit from one new sale would be $1,000. First, figure out how many new sales you’ll be making in a year’s time, and add that amount to your bottom line. So, let’s say you did your home work, and found a way to advertise that is going to make you 20 new sales in a year’s time, or $20,000 in additional revenues. Also, should you be wrong and realize that instead of 20 new sales, you’ll be getting 50, re-adjust your advertising budget to include the additional revenues.

There are no guarantees in advertising. By being careful, doing your homework on the ways to advertise, and carefully monitoring the results of your advertising campaign, you should be very successful.

Rick Priolo is the publisher of Today’s Senior Magazine at http://www.todayssr.com/advertise.html, the most read senior publication in their total areas of distribution.

If you are looking to sell structured settlement payments, now is a great time to do it. You now have access to a nationwide pool of experienced, professional note buyers thanks to the Internet, and the increased competition means higher cash payouts for you.

A structured settlement is essentially a financial arrangement set up for victims of injury cases whereby they receive monthly payments (annuities) to cover damages, loss, medical expenses, etc. As opposed to a lump sum payment, the claimant receives a set amount each month for a specified period of time. This payment is tax free, and usually works out favorably for both parties….the victim has a steady, tax-free income source to cover bills and the defendant doesn’t have to pay out a huge amount up front.

However, many people would prefer to have a large payment now rather than smaller payments spread out over a period of years, and therefore look to sell structured settlements. You see this quite often with lottery winners who opt to take a lump sum rather than monthly payments, even though it works out to less money that their total winnings.

Unlike with the lottery, though, you can’t ask the defendant to pay you upfront instead. It doesn’t work like that and almost all defendants/insurance companies would prefer to set up a more palatable monthly financial arrangement so they are not out of pocket a large sum of money. For this reason, you may want to sell your structured settlement annuity in its entirety or just a portion of the instrument.

Of course, just like with the lottery payment, you will not get the full amount of your settlement from the buyer. Keep in mind that he or she is assuming the risk that comes with your note, and also has to take into account inflation and other factors. So it has to make financial sense for them as well.

When you sell structured settlement payments it offers many benefits to you. For one, you are receiving a guaranteed amount of money right away, rather than waiting on much smaller monthly payments and hoping the payor doesn’t default. Along those lines, another benefit is the peace of mind that comes with no longer assuming the risk that comes with any debt instrument. You just never know what the future holds, so why not sell structured settlements now and be 100% sure to receive money.

There are many options when it comes to selling your structured settlement and a qualified note buyer will spell them all out for you. Find someone with experience and a good reputation and figure out what will work best for your particular financial situation.

Jamie has been working in the finance industry for many years and is a contributing editor to http://www.selling-your-note.com. If you are looking to sell structured settlements you can find more information and get a free, no obligation quote from a top note buying professional.