Archive for August, 2008

by Christina Botto
Lately, several parents asked: “Where is my teen’s anger coming from?” Teenagers, like adults, experience stress every day. The stubborn and argumentative teen is fighting for independence and less control by his or her parents. An angry teen is battling with daily difficulties and is trying to make sense of emotional issues, such as:
• changes in their bodies
• trying to establish an identity
• dealing with friends
• positive and negative peer pressure
• school demands
• separation or divorce of parents
• being accused of something they did not do
• being treated unfairly
• not getting a chance to voice their opinion
• chronic illness or death of a loved one
• taking on too many activities
• parents’ high expectations
It’s no surprise that our teens might become overloaded with stress. Teenagers have poor coping skills, and getting angry is the only way they know how to avoid feeling sad, hurt, or afraid.

Teens also have unreasonable expectations, especially if they are used to getting what they want when they want it. If this does not happen, or they realize that things are not always within their control - they get angry.

Their anger can take many forms - some teens might repress their anger and withdraw, while others get defiant, destructive or turn to alcohol and drugs.

Various situations can bring out feelings of anger. Parents are often caught by surprise and react by either yelling or arguing back, or punishing their teen for showing their anger.

Instead, parents need to see this show of anger or rage as a signal that their teen is battling with or facing a situation they cannot handle on their own, or is overwhelmed by the demands of his or her daily live.

Fortunately parents have many options to help their teens through their frustration and cope with everyday pressure:
• Ask your teen what unresolved conflict he or she is facing
• Listen to your teen
• Focus on his or her feelings
• Understand the situation from your teen’s perspective
• Help your teen work towards a solution
• Show your teenager that you care
Unresolved issues can escalate to physical violence, addictions, and psychosomatic disorders. This can devastate your teens life by destroying relationships, clouding effective thinking, and ruining his or her future. Seek professional help for your teen, yourself, and or your family if necessary.

Christina Botto is the author of Help Me With My Teenager! A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents that Works and Fitting The Pieces. For tools and resources to help you better understand and relate to your teen, or help with specific issues visit her web site at Parenting A Teenager.

Article Source: How to help your angry Teen

by Jan Malloch
I do not recall being motivated to do anything in particular as a young child. I do not think I was any different from most other children in that respect. There was, of course, always the motivation to “be good”, so that you gained a reward of some description. Whether it was a candy bar, or presents from Santa, it did not take long to learn that if you were good, then you got something good in return.

Setting goals as a young child was not on my agenda. All of my basic requirements were being provided by my parents. Before the age of ten, I did not need to set my sights on anything. I went to school and played with friends as young children are expected to do.

When I was ten, I experienced a major turning point. From then on, goal-setting and achievement began to play a significant role in my life.

My best friend lived across the road, and we had been friends since we were six. She was one of those academically- and musically-gifted people. She always did brilliantly at school, and she seemed to know every bit of general knowledge in existence. In reality, she probably knew very little, but she was a walking encyclopedia as far as I was concerned.

As if this wasn’t enough, my friend was very competent at playing the piano, the violin, the clarinet, and the guitar. It seemed that anytime I came to her house, she was either doing school work or practicing music. She certainly would not be found slumped in front of the TV idling her time away. My friend was also accomplished at school sports. Indeed, I wondered if there was anything she could not do!

My grades at school were what could only be termed as below average. I did not play any musical instruments, and I was no use at sports. It was perhaps rather surprising that we were best friends at all. I do not think I envied her, she was my best friend after all. She was she and I was me.

There was however one thing that my best friend had that I wanted. My friend had shown me how to play a couple of chords on her guitar, and I wanted to learn more. She was more than happy to teach me the basics. But I also wanted a guitar of my own.

In fact, I wanted a guitar above everything else in the entire world. So how does a ten year-old school kid get a guitar? Easy! You ask your mother to buy you one.

This was not going to go as I had planned however. My mother had just received my report card and she was not exactly brimming with pride. My 9 grades were either a poor C or an even poorer D. I was not exactly in the genius-class, and my mother had no doubts that I was a hopeless case academically.

I summoned up the courage to ask her for the guitar. I was expecting a straight-forward no. What she did say however was going to change my life. My mother said that if my next report card was all A grades, then she would buy me the guitar.

I knew what I had to do. As I was so determined to have the guitar, I was more than happy to take on the challenge. It was going to be four months or so before my next report card was due, so I had time to get my school work up to scratch.

Without realizing it, my mother had set me a SMART goal. Her goal was for me to do better at school. She was not concerned about the guitar, yet this was what provided me with the motivation to succeed. I knew exactly what I had to do to get what I wanted, and I had to start concentrating on my school work immediately to achieve it.

I got straight As on my report card. My mother bought me my guitar that weekend. Although I did not get very far with my guitar playing, I learned about setting and achieving goals. I learned about being motivated and being persistent. I learned that if I worked hard at something, then success would follow. This soon became a habit, and I have continued to set and achieve goals throughout my life.

Incidentally, the guitar cost my mother $10. I will be forever grateful to her for teaching me the steps to achieve what you desire in life.

Jan specializes in encouraging people to “Make Positive Changes Now” in several aspects of their lives including career change and personal development. She is a motivational speaker and author and inspires others to realize their own life goals.She is currently developing a number of CDs and DVDs to motivate and encourage people to make positive and worthwhile changes in their lives.Visit Jan’s web site at http://www.powerpositivenow.com

Article Source: How My Mother Taught Me Motivation

by Ross G
It’s easy to say, isn’t it - ‘life goes on’… I’ve heard similar statements all my life: “she’ll be right mate…” “There’s always tomorrow…!” “Ah well, that’s life”. When I truly think about it though, I find that statement to be both flippant and correct.

Flippant because it’s often thrown out in casual conversation where it’s not meant to be taken seriously. For example, I’ve left my wallet at home when I need it… or I can’t find my keys… “Ah well, life goes on”. It’s not a situation that is going to have any effect on me in the long term.

However, the same flippant statement is also widely used in completely different contexts. My background is in health care, and I have spent quite a lot of time surrounded by people experiencing highs and lows in life - particularly those who are faced with tragedies and have life changing decisions to make, or people whose lives are about to change dramatically due to the loss or severe injury of a loved one.

The way people respond to such situations varies widely depending on several factors such as family background, degrees of separation to the person involved, severity of incident, age of people involved, spiritual or religious backgrounds, and many many more factors. Sometimes people scream, cry, yell the place down, start throwing things, collapse etc.. and others go quiet, smile, reflect on the person or family involved, hug each other or start making phone calls.

Often during these times I will hear such expressions: “it could have been worse”… “At least (such and such) didn’t happen”… “life goes on”…

The point of the matter is this: it’s normal and natural to respond to such situations in a variety of ways. It’s normal to go through a grieving pattern and process, and to handle each situation differently. When it really comes down to it however, “life goes on” is not such a silly phrase: in reality, it’s often a sobering but true concept.

It’s good to live our lives with a “life goes on” attitude. I’m not trying to downplay the seriousness of injury, death or tragedies, but it’s important to realise that things happen in this world that are out of our control.

Sometimes they are flippant things that don’t really matter, other times they are life changing.

We can go on. Human’s have an amazing ability to adjust to given situations, and we really can go on. Life goes on - how true that is. Often we don’t know why bad things happen, we don’t know why we have been put in situations that just aren’t fair. When a child dies, why is that?! It’s so devastating for everyone involved.

Life goes on.

Life goes on.

We are all here for a reason, and it may not be until 20, 30 years down the road where we can reflect on what has happened and truly make more sense of it all.

I’m sorry if you have had things happen in your life that are unfair, or tragically devastating. Certainly I’ve also had things happen that are unjust, unfair, sad. Don’t give up!

You are an important part of this world, and you are here for a reason!
- Article posted in Encouragement

Read more from this author at:
Will It Change You? www.willitchangeyou.com
-Your Portal for Personal Growth-

Article Source: Life goes on: don’t give up!

by Pamela Hadfield-Grier
The subconscious mind is therefore sublime; it will accept anything you submit to it without question, and will then act upon your instructions thereby bring your vibration into complete harmony with your desires, thus enabling them to manifest into your life where you can experience them in full.

In order to attract your desires, you not only have to know and ask for your desires, but most importantly you have to “vibrate” in harmony with your desires by believing that you have all your desires right now. To vibrate in harmony with your desires includes positive thinking, i.e. only thinking in terms that your desire already exists in your experiential reality, a feeling that you are already experiencing and enjoying your desires, and a feeling of gratitude for enjoying your desires.

This is where the power of affirmations really comes into its own. The conscious, rational mind will always endeavor to reject anything that does not appear to be “real”, logical or attainable. It does not know, at a conscious level that you are infinitely powerful and capable of realizing any desire at all. The conscious mind will therefore reject anything it “disagrees” with and will accordingly block your wishes.

Fortunately, as the subconscious mind is all powerful, much more so than the conscious mind, all we need to do is to use the powers of positive thinking to impress our wishes and desires upon the subconscious mind, which will in turn cause you to know that your desire already exists in your life, thereby causing you to vibrate in harmony with it after which it will apear in your life as an experiential reality.

The power of positive thinking can be enhanced and reinforced by the use of affirmations. An affirmation is a short statement repeated frequently in the present tense in order to impress the intent of the affirmation on to the subsconscious mind, thereby in turn causing the subject of your affirmation to manifest as a part of your own physical reality.

As with all positive thinking, affirmations must always be phrased in the present tense as if the desired result has already become an absolute reality. This will attract and influence Energy in accordance with The Law of Attraction, in turn creating the reality of the object of your affirmations within the inner spheres of the Universe, which reality must then in turn subsequently manifest into the physical world where the benefits can be realized.

Pamela Hadfield-Grier is Life and Wellness Coach offering Stress Management techniques and Sport Yoga Instruction. She works with individuals to help them incorporate their mind, body and spirit to facilitate their decision making as well as their physical wellbeing to improve results in all areas of their lives.For more information on Affirmation and Subliminal Messages, Binaural Mind Power and Guided Visualization CD’s, please visit www.freedomfromillusion.com.

Article Source: Affirmations and Subliminal Messages

by Sara Carroll
Have you ever thought about the process of spending money? If you do the research before you spend on big ticket items by comparison shopping, looking for sales, searching for on-line coupons, and checking with consumer report websites for knowledgeable recommendations; then you are a savvy spender, and your money is working for you.

How Most People Spend

What most people don’t factor into the process of spending money is the emotional aspect of this action. Often people make purchases because they have been influenced and persuaded by advertising and other subtle but effective types of manipulation. Marketing experts, for example are masters of psychological manipulation, which is why advertisements always show happy, beautiful people using specific consumer goods to attain their state of well-being.

Our Parents Influence

Most of us have feelings that are both positive and negative about spending our hard-earned dollars. Many of our perceptions about spending, saving, and even earning money, come from learned experiences we received during our formative years. Our parents’ behaviors with money were often our first exposure to the process. If they budgeted, coupon clipped, saved and lived within their means, we probably will too. If earning a six figure income was a focal point, or living pay check to pay check played a big role in daily life; those memories had an influence on us, as well. Studies suggest that a large part of our emotional ties to money are directly correlated with our acceptance or rejection of our parents’ financial decisions.

Money Personalities

Money personalities vary greatly. Compulsive shopping, gambling and over-spending consumers usually end up with large credit card debt. The other end of the personality spectrum includes people who live frugally because they fear poverty. This fear keeps them from spending to the degree that they deny themselves things that they need for a better quality of life. Others try to avoid money issues by refusing to focus on how they spend or why. Often, busy people who make a good income don’t manage their money well because they lack the time to do so. All of these people miss the opportunities to put their money to work for them, even if it just means moving it to a different account to get a higher interest rate.

Thinking about Why We Spend

It is very important, now more than ever in this sluggish economy, to start thinking about how and why we spend money and how to get the most for every dollar we spend. The all important bottom line is preserving financial solvency. Knowing why we spend will help us manage our money more wisely.

Five Steps to Managing Money

1) Track where money is being spent and the amount
2) Set specific long term goals for your money
3) Pay cash, or use your debit card
4) Think before you buy to curb Impulse Shopping
5) Prepare for periods of unemployment by putting aside savings and purchasing Disability Insurance, and Death Benefit Insurance for yourself and your family.

If we decide to focus on where the money is going, and why, and put a plan in place in case our earning potential is lost, either temporarily or long term, we will be smart money managers and not victims of our own emotional spending.

Find peace and live happy with proper money management skills. FromAtoZen.com is a daily resource that provides you with wise ideas on how to live life simplify and happily.

Article Source: Emotional Spending — Do Not Become a Victim

by Steve Gillman
Most of us know lucky people, those who seem to lived a charmed life. They may not even be all that smart, and yet they seem to almost stumble into good situations. Opportunities open up for them, things are “handed” to them. Perhaps they win in the stock market, find a dream job, or get married to their ideal spouse.

Then there are the unlucky people. Maybe you know a few of these as well. Some of them may even be very intelligent or well educated, and yet they’re unlucky in love, lose money on investments, miss opportunities, and have unexpected bad things happen.

You might be somewhere between these two extremes. You have some good luck, and you have your share of “bad luck” as well. But have you ever tried to learn how to be one of the lucky people?

Generally there are two approaches to the idea of luck. Some think it is a random or mysterious thing that we have no control over, while others say it doesn’t exist, that what we call luck is hard work, or a lazy way to explain cause and effect. Yet we all see that some people have easier successes, whether we call it luck or not. What both approaches tend to miss is the obvious question: How can you become one of these “lucky people?”

The answer to that starts with avoiding that mistake right there. Stop arguing about definitions. It’s more profitable to make good things happen. Does it really matter if you earn the title of “lucky” even though you feel that “luck” had nothing to do with it? The bottom line is that good results are good results, whatever they are called.

One Thing Lucky People Do Differently

There are many things that lucky people do differently, and there is even serious research that demonstrates this. It has been shown that people who are identified as lucky smile more often, for example. And among those who are superstitious (entirely unnecessary for luck), the research shows lucky people have more positive beliefs, like crossing the fingers, while those who avoid black cats and fear the number thirteen have less luck.

Of all the many things that lucky people do differently, though, perhaps one of the most effective is simply asking for things. How many of us don’t ever ask for a nicer table in a restaurant, or ask for a raise at work. Doing so doesn’t guarantee anything, but asking certainly increases the odds of receiving. It’s safe to say that you’ll get more raises and nice tables in life if you ask.

For example, in his book, “Screw It - Let’s Do It,” Richard Branson tells the story of how he bought a $3,000,000 pound island for $180,000. That’s just 7% of the asking price, by the way. Here’s the short version of how he did it: He asked. I imagine there were those who would have loved to get the island for twice what he paid, since that would still be an 86% discount. But they probably never made the offer, embarrassed to ask for such a low price.

As a young man I bought my first house by advertising. I put a small ad in the paper saying I was looking for a small home with a small down payment and seller financing. I got a call and soon bought my first home. Ask and you shall receive, as the saying goes.

So are there lucky people? Yes, and if you want to be one of them, consider the following three premises:

1. “Lucky” people are those who have more happy surprises and good situations in their lives.

2. Their good luck is a result of the way they think and act.

3. You can become one of them by learning and applying certain principles (like the one above.)

Copyright Steve Gillman. Learn specific ways to Get Lucky right now at: http://www.GoodLuckSecrets.com

Article Source: Are There Lucky People?

by Former Retiree
Let us say that one of the items on your DO WANT list is a desire to be rich. You have written a brief paragraph of what being rich means to you, and you have crafted the following affirmation: EVERY DAY IN EVERY WAY, I AM BECOMING RICHER AND RICHER! It will not be very long before the tail-enders ease themselves into your thoughts with statements like: Who are you kidding? Your financial condition today is the same as it was yesterday. You can not get rich with this affirmation stuff. You would be better off to take that $5 in your pocket/purse and go buy some lottery tickets.

One of the comments I hear from users of affirmations is that they feel affirmations are not true. This seems especially true for those people who discontinue their efforts to change their lives with affirmations. They seem to think that they are lying to themselves when they repeat an affirmation. There are two critical points I wish to reinforce in your mind.

Point 1 is you are moving your thoughts and beliefs in the exact opposite direction (180 degrees) from your previous consistent patterns of your DO NOT WANT thinking. It is similar to your having a patch of unused ground out back that is filled with useless weeds, grasses, and shrubs. You decide to plant a vegetable garden. That decision requires that you remove the unwanted and useless weeds, grasses, and shrubs.

Once the removal of unwanted things is done, you must cultivate the soil, add any needed nutrients, then you plant vegetable seeds of your choice. As the seeds are germinating, you must regularly pay attention to your new garden to quickly remove any new unwanted grass, weeds, etc. to ensure that you give your vegetable seeds an opportunity to fully develop.

You do not think of planting and caring for your new garden seeds as lying to yourself or to the earth. You simply have taken actions to remove something you DO NOT WANT (useless weeds, grasses, and shrubs) and you are replacing them with something you DO WANT (garden vegetables).

You should consider your affirmation regimen in the same way. Affirmations are as true as the seeds you plant in your garden. Even though you cannot physically see the fruits of your labor immediately, you know that a harvest already pre-exists in the seeds. You should seek to develop and maintain this or a similar attitude related to your affirmations.

Point number 2 is thoughts about lying to yourself are tail enders. This garden analogy serves as a perfect example how the old self image refuses to go quietly into the night. It feels you are bringing death to it, and it needs to fight for its existence. It uses tail enders, negative emotions, as well as repeated thoughts about events in the past in an attempt to stay put and stay in control.

I’m sure you have noticed that I make references to the self image as if it is a separate entity within you. Working with the self image in this manner was critical for me. I would often communicate with it in my self-talk (I still do), reassuring it that my intentions were to re-train it, not destroy it. This is a strategy you might find very useful also.

This I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

Harold L Lowe retired at age 62 when his six-figure income position was eliminated. He now wishes to share some of what he has learned since then and some of his experiences as well through articles. He is now studying The New Think And Grow Rich with the author, Ted Ciuba, a founding member of the World Internet Summit. To Claim A FREE Copy Of The Book That Inspired The Movie/DVD/Book, The Secret, Go To: Mind Power

Article Source: Mastering Your Mind Power: Are Affirmations Really True?

by Dianne M. Buxton
The mind activity involved in reality creation has been discussed mostly as the big Secret. It’s been openly talked about in the west since the mid 1800’s. Stemming from discovery of The Vedas by Indian colonial civil workers, the Secret branched out into churches of New Thought, philosophical groups, and new educational systems.

So the big secret is that you get what you put your attention on. And it is no secret that the sweep of fearful emotions change our body chemistry so fast, that we can take days to revert to a calmer state, even once we have grasped control of ourselves.

You want to manifest a miracle - that is, you want to improve your life a lot faster than you created the situation you are in now. And you can. One way to start, or re-new your method of using The Law of Attraction is to stop reading right now and take 10 deep slow breaths. This calms your body chemistry and allows some space and time for you to relax your thoughts.

Drama, drama and more drama is typical of human existence. It is highly distracting. It’s nuts! And it’s us. Love, money, job, children, parents, the price of gas, it’s grandly hypnotic. Establishing a simple yet not so easy practice of taking a very deep breath, and maybe even counting to ten, before deciding at what intensity you wish to respond to the incoming onslaught of events, is crucial.

That is why it is vital to take some time every day for experiencing your quietest moments. Morning coffee/tea. Looking out the window. This is a sanctuary. This is where you retreat to to re-new “THIS is what I want. THIS is what I am now planning. And it feels like….THIS. AAAAAHHH”.

You are the miracle you have already manifested. Now you will manifest your miracle in this time continuum. You will.

The fastest way at failing to stick with this, is to deny yourself a few moments when the drama shows up. Is to forget that this is simple, though not always easy. That deep breath in and out defines how you use The Law of Attraction. Change your life direction, and manifest a miracle, using mind reality to create it. Stay simple.

Change your life - learn effective tips to improve your use of the Law of Attraction, and Manifest A Miracle to change your life direction.

Article Source: The Fastest Way at Failing to Change Your Life Direction

by Christina Botto
You will be surprised to hear that very few teenagers actually like to argue. They’re just trying to ask questions in order to find out why we do things the way we do them. Teens are starting to get interested in life and what goes on around them. In their awkward way, they are attempting to get at the reason for our actions. They form opinions and naturally wonder if our way is the only way.

While “Do it this way” or “Because I said so” might have worked with our nine year old, for the teenager this is not reason enough anymore.

Due to the teen’s lack of communication skills, their questions are easily perceived as criticism by parents - and we get defensive. Some teens give up easily, surprised by the parent’s reaction, if they don’t get the information they were after, while others just keep on trying - and parent and teen wind up in a heated argument.

Teens are also expanding their independence and will fight to have some input and control over their lives. They want to be able to make small decisions on their own, without the parent telling them how and when.

If your teen feels he is being controlled or pressured too much he will either resort to stubbornly ignoring you and your request, or he will argue.

In fact, your teen could get so focused on breaking out from under your control and pressure that nothing else will matter to him. For example, repeatedly asking your teen to do his homework could result in him not doing his homework at all - and your teen is not considering how this will affect his grades.

One way to avoid this type of stubborn opposition is to give some control to your teen by attaching a time limit to your request. “Please finish your homework before dinner,” for example, and then don’t mention it again until dinner time.

Allow your teen to make decisions on matters you know he can handle, and let him know that you are ready and available if he needs help. Involving your teen in decisions about him does not take away a parent’s power, but it shows your teen that you accept him as an individual and are ready to give him a chance. It also teaches him that he can indeed work with you through important life decisions.

Give your teen responsibility by assigning tasks, but step back and let him handle the situation. There is a very good chance your teen will do the task differently than you would, and for some parents it will not be easy at all to let the teen try it a different way when you know what works.

Resist that urge, let your teen experiment - and try not to tell him he is doing it wrong or that it will not work that way. Either your teenager will prove to you that there is another way to come to the same result, or he will have to admit, after several wasted hours, that your way is the right way after all.

Overall, try not to answer with a quick “No” if your teen approaches you with a request - and I know it’s so easy, we are already stressed juggling job, household, and family. The last thing we need is something else to worry about. However, if you take the time to listen to your teen and his opinions, he will also be willing to listen to you and your advice.

You will be surprised how quickly you will see a difference in the way you and your teen interact.

Christina Botto is the author of Help Me With My Teenager! A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents that Works and Fitting The Pieces. For tools and resources to help you better understand and relate to your teen, or help with specific issues visit her web site at Parenting A Teenager

Article Source: Dealing With the Stubborn and Argumentatives Teen

by John Mehrmann
Scientists and researchers are experimenting with venom, bacteria, and genes from the common cold to create amazing cures. What can we learn from this approach of studying what could be perceived as deadly and harmful, and apply the same aspirations to our own challenges and temporarily agonizing hurdles?

The Deathstalker Scorpion possesses one of the most deadly venoms of any scorpion on earth. However, research has shown that the venom of the Deathstalker scorpion contains chlorotoxin, a chemical that attaches to specific brain cancer cells, while leaving healthy brain cells alone. Scientists are studying ways to use chlorotoxin to carry radioactive atoms directly to the cancer cells, to single out and destroy brain cancer cells. Chlorotoxin also appears to successfully prohibit brain cancer cells from shrinking or moving, so the cancer cannot spread. A recently completed Phase II clinical trial at New York Presbyterian may soon bring treatment with chlorotoxin to reality. The deadly venom of the Deathstalker scorpion may yield a potent new weapon in specific and focused treatment of brain cancer.

Scientists at Introgen Therapeutics are using a few genes in adenoviruses to combat cancer. Adenovirus is better known as the culprit that brings us the common cold. The scientists are altering strains of the adenovirus to deploy anticancer genes within tumors, killing cancer cells while leaving the healthy cells unscathed. Rather than cure the common cold, these researchers are redirecting it as a cure for cancer.

Princeton scientists have demonstrated an unusual talent for training E coli to respond to surroundings, an accomplishment previously attributed only to organisms with nervous systems. The tiny microbes can be trained to respond to cues in their environment, turning genes on and off, and thereby illuminating the behavior of a bacterial pathogens. The feared E coli may eventually be revered as tiny workhorses to monitor their environment and assist with carrying corrective remedies.

The scientific approaches to use scorpion venom, E coli, and the common cold as potential cures for cancer are reminiscent of the studies of Louis Pasteur. In studying chicken cholera, Pasteur noted that one of sample cultures of cholera inducing bacteria had spoiled and failed to infect some chickens with a deadly dose of the disease. Upon attempting to infect the healthy chickens with another non-spoiled strain of the bacteria, he discovered that the chickens had become immune to the disease. With continued studies, Pasteur confirmed that exposing the chickens to weakened strains of the bacteria enabled them to develop immunization to the cholera. By the 1870’s Pasteur applied this immunization method to anthrax, which had been affecting cattle. Pasteur made the anthrax vaccine by exposing the bacillus to the oxidizing agent potassium dichromate.

On a much more personal level, how often do we let the little things get in our way? Pasteur introduced small and weakened doses of bacteria to build up immunity to otherwise truly life-threatening exposure of cholera and anthrax. Scientists are experimenting with E coli and genes in the common cold in the pursuit of the monumental cure to cancer. Can we also be trained to adjust our perception, to manage the minor inconveniences and seemingly devastating small challenges of today as personal training and stepping stones to overcome bigger challenges that we may encounter tomorrow?

In the course of our own existence, we each encounter devastating losses, heartbreaking experiences, and tumultuous issues. In those moments facing challenge, when our concentration is focused on overcoming obstacles or coping with loss, we may be distracted from recognizing what we can achieve. Suffering feelings of loss can only occur if there is an appreciation for something to lose. You cannot lose what you never had. Understanding what you can attain may cause frustration when encountering delay, but do not allow the temporary interruptions to distract you from your personal goals for too long. Learn from the obstacles and adjust accordingly. Once the grieving for the sense of loss has subsided, then there is a time of peace, and a time to remember what you can achieve. Small setbacks are insignificant in comparison to what you can accomplish, and should never dissuade you from your course toward greater achievements. If scientists can identify useful chemicals in scorpion venom to carry a cure for brain cancer, then what can you identify in your experiences to carry you to new heights?

Most of our disappointments are merely the result of discovering or confirming that expectations or assumptions were incorrect. Occasionally, the realization may have life changing consequences. It is common to encounter such challenges in relationships, career, and personal development. Study the obstacles that are presented to you, and adjust your course accordingly. In taking a new path, you will inevitably encounter new discoveries that you would otherwise have missed, both in the environment around you, and within yourself. You might not use the common cold to cure cancer, but by overcoming a seemingly venomous situation, you could make a monumental personal discovery for yourself. Temporary setbacks and challenges cannot beat you, but you can use them to make you stronger.

______________________________________________________

Words of Wisdom

“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.”
- Lord Byron

“Where we have strong emotions, we’re liable to fool ourselves.”
- Carl Sagan

“The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.”
- George Eliot

______________________________________________________

John Mehrmann is author of The Trusted Advocate: Accelerate Success with Authenticity and Integrity. The book that is changing everything by reawakening personal values in business as a competitive edge

Article Source: What Doesn’t Kill You, Makes You Stronger