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One of the greatest benefits of having close friendships is that our friends can support and help us when things get rough in our lives.
In exchange for the support our friends give us during a crisis, most of us also help our friends when they need it.
In a relationship between two emotionally healthy adults, the roles of giving and receiving help are balanced. Both people offer help and receive help from each other in approximately equal amounts.
However, there are some people who always take on the role of being the helper, no matter what relationship they are in.
These people have friendships that focus exclusively on trying to solve the problems of their friends. We sometimes call this quality “co-dependency”, and we may label people who are obsessed with helping others “co-dependent”.
A person who is co-dependent will tend to have relationships with people who have a lot of problems - emotional, social, familial and financial. The co-dependent person may spend much of their own time, money, and energy helping other people who have problems, while ignoring the problems in their own life.
Why would somebody be co-dependent?
A person who is co-dependent often suffers from a deep sense of worthlessness and anxiety, and tries to derive a sense of self-worth by helping or rescuing others. A person who is co-dependent may not know how to relax and feel comfortable in a friendship where both people are equals and the relationship is based on enjoying each other’s company.
Co-dependent people may even feel anxious if someone they have been helping gets their life in order and no longer wants their help. The co-dependent person may immediately look around for someone else they can “save”.
If you frequently take on the role of helping the people who are your friends, how can you tell if you are acting out of genuine kindness and concern, or whether your behavior is in fact co-dependency? There aren’t really any hard and fast lines between the two.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to see whether your “helping” behavior may actually be co-dependency:
- Do you have a hard time saying no to others, even when you are very busy, financially broke, or completely exhausted?
- Are you always sacrificing your own needs for everyone else?
- Do you feel more worthy as a human being because you have taken on a helping role?
- If you stopped helping your friends, would you feel guilty or worthless?
- Would you know how to be in a friendship that doesn’t revolve around you being the “helper”?
- If your friends eventually didn’t need your help, would you still be friends with them? Or would you look around for someone else to help?
- Do you feel resentful when others are not grateful enough to you for your efforts at rescuing them or fixing their lives?
- Do you sometimes feel like more of a social worker than a friend in your relationships?
- Do you feel uncomfortable receiving help from other people? Is the role of helping others a much more natural role for you to play in your relationships?
- Does it seem as if many of your friends have particularly chaotic lives, with one crisis after another?
- Did you grow up in a family that had a lot of emotional chaos or addiction problems?
- Are many of your friends addicts, or do they have serious emotional and social problems?
- As you were growing up, did you think it was up to you to keep the family functioning?
- As an adult, is it important for you to be thought of as the “dependable one”?
If you answered “yes” to a lot of these questions, you may indeed have a problem with co-dependency.
This does not mean that you are a flawed person.
It means that you are spending a lot of energy on other people and very little on yourself.
If it seems that a lot of your friendships are based on co-dependent rescuing behaviors, rather than on mutual liking and respect between equals, you may wish to step back and rethink your role in relationships.
If you suspect that your helping behavior is a form of co-dependency, a good therapist or counselor can help you gain perspective on your actions and learn a more balanced way of relating to others.
There are many excellent books available on the subject of co-dependency. Support groups such as Al-Anon can also help.
This article is written by Royane Real, author of “How You Can Have All the Friends You Want - Your Complete Guide to Finding Friends, Making Friends, and Keeping Friends” If you want to improve your friendships, download it today to www.royanereal.com
Desiring to have fun is natural, normal and an a sound approach to a healthy state of being. Your life cannot help but flourish if your daily routine is infused with FUN. Consider it a basic need along with food, shelter, clothing, Etc! Of course, this is not to say that you don’t take important things seriously. It is to say, however, that you don’t treat every experience as though your life depends on it.
Old patterning may have taught us that having fun is acceptable in its proper place and time. And for some, fun is interpreted as a childish action and not appropriate behavior for an adult. Letting go of modeling that no longer serves us creates a natural vacuum and an unblocked channel for fresh new energy, FUN, to come into our live. Start introducing and enveloping this light hearted approach to living at a relaxed and gentle pace, as this is not a test and there is no “pass-fail”.
Here are a some simple actions that will generate FUN in your life:
- Share Yourself with Others! Start with a SMILE. It works.
Smile at a person you pass on the street, smile and wave at a neighbor; smile and greet your pet at the door; smile at your waiter and leave a really big tip because you’re having a great day; smile and start a conversion with the cashier; smile when you pick up the phone, the caller will hear it in your voice, And on and on!!
- Nurture Yourself. MAKE some time each day for a “mind” Vacation.
When we were kids fun was scheduled into our school schedule. “Recess” was a time to play games, laugh with our friends and frolic on the playground. By breaking for fun we returned to the classroom feeling refreshed, invigorated and better able to concentrate on the tasks at hand. So, schedule in “Recess”. Jump in a pile of leaves; go for a 10 minute walk; next time you see a rainbow, stop and really admire it; test drive a really expensive car; sit and relax; rent a funny movies, pop some popcorn and laugh; read a book; listen to music; play a game with the kids; jump on the bed; play hop-scotch; take a drive to no where; stand on your head. Do what presents itself. And make sure you honor your appointment with fun as much as you would any other entry in your calendar!
- Pat Yourself on the Back, Often.
Celebrate all the successes in your life. Many times we get hung up on that obvious situation that is causing us turmoil and sapping our energy. If this happens call a time out, breath, and one by one count the things in your life you are proud of and appreciate. What a great way to feel uplifted!
- Un burden Yourself
Start to clear away the old dead parts of your life. Return a call, get rid of all the clothes you can’t fit into, call a service to clean your house, clear and organize your desk area, be willing to let go of an old “grudge” you be holding on to. Do what is in your face at the moment! Easy does it now, this is not a race.
- Let the Outside, In
As children we were taught to protect ourselves, to beware. Now is the time to drop our imaginary guard.. Look at life as a conspiracy to bring you only the very best. I guarantee doors you did not know existed will start to swing open, bringing you a life beyond your wildest and fondest dreams!
- Veto Debt, Take on Agreements
Throw out any words in your vocabulary that don’t have a pleasant tone. For example; for some the word “debt” may feel mundane and heavy. If this is the case, the words “agreement”or “arrangement” may be good replacements. After all we have a lot of words to choice from!
- Be That
Think about what you enjoy the most about other people. For example, is it because they have a positive attitude, joke around, interact in a friendly way, etc. Then do it!
- Give Away all your “Shoulds and Have Tos”
Lets face it, not one of us has to do anything. We all make choices. So stand tall, take a “I’m in charge” attitude and notice how you step into your day (and life) with a new found sense of anticipation and wonder.
- What’s Fun?
Take some time to ponder what “fun” is for you, then take action steps to participate “just for the fun of it”. And, whenever you hear or read about an event or activity that fascinates you add it to your “fun” to do list.
- Watch a Child
We forgot how to have fun. So an easy and FUN way to help us remember is to watch a child . Feel the magic and wonder they emanate . Take it in. It is contiguous!
- Allow Time for Surprises
Every now and then do something nice for someone totally unexpected. Call someone up and tell him or her how much you appreciate them; give someone a back rub, when crossing a toll ridge or entering a toll road, pay the fare for the vehicle behind you; return a grocery cart to the stall; put coins in expired parking meters; give Hershey’s Kisses to people; leave your change in the soda machine for the next person.
- Throw this Away!
This article is a tool to assist. Use the parts that work, and throw the rest away. There is one thing that you can always depend on, it is you! Trust yourself. Your inner voice, or gut feelings, is your personal assistant on duty 24/7.
Mary Kay Buttery, 2005
Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.
George Bernard Shaw
Mary Kay is a natural healer, passionate that people discover peace and simplicity in their everyday experiences. Be sure to visit her website www.SFGTD.com and sign up for her *FREE* Monthly Newsletter, which is filled with inspirational information on creating a life you truly love. Call her at 702-239-5451 or Email marykay@sfgtd.com
With the exception of Nietzsche, no other madman has contributed so much to human sanity as has Louis Althusser. He is mentioned twice in the Encyclopaedia Britannica as someone’s teacher. There could be no greater lapse: for two important decades (the 60s and the 70s), Althusser was at the eye of all the important cultural storms. He fathered quite a few of them.
This newly-found obscurity forces me to summarize his work before suggesting a few (minor) modifications to it.
(1) Society consists of practices: economic, political and ideological.
Althusser defines a practice as:
“Any process of transformation of a determinate product, affected
by a determinate human labour, using determinate means (of production)”
The economic practice (the historically specific mode of production) transforms raw materials to finished products using human labour and other means of production, all organized within defined webs of inter-relations. The political practice does the same with social relations as the raw materials. Finally, ideology is the transformation of the way that a subject relates to his real life conditions of existence.
This is a rejection of the mechanistic worldview (replete with bases and superstructures). It is a rejection of the Marxist theorization of ideology. It is a rejection of the Hegelian fascist “social totality”. It is a dynamic, revealing, modern day model.
In it, the very existence and reproduction of the social base (not merely its expression) is dependent upon the social superstructure. The superstructure is “relatively autonomous” and ideology has a central part in it - see entry about Marx and Engels and entry concerning Hegel.
The economic structure is determinant but another structure could be dominant, depending on the historical conjuncture. Determination (now called over-determination - see Note) specifies the form of economic production upon which the dominant practice depends. Put otherwise: the economic is determinant not because the practices of the social formation (political and ideological) are the social formation’s expressive epiphenomena - but because it determines WHICH of them is dominant.
(2) People relate to the conditions of existence through the practice of ideology. Contradictions are smoothed over and (real) problems are offered false (though seemingly true) solutions. Thus, ideology has a realistic dimension - and a dimension of representations (myths, concepts, ideas, images). There is (harsh, conflicting) reality - and the way that we represent it both to ourselves and to others.
(3) To achieve the above, ideology must not be seen to err or, worse, remain speechless. It, therefore, confronts and poses (to itself) only answerable questions. This way, it remains confined to a fabulous, legendary, contradiction-free domain. It ignores other questions altogether.
(4) Althusser introduced the concept of “The Problematic”:
“The objective internal reference … the system of questions
commanding the answers given”
It determines which problems, questions and answers are part of the game - and which should be blacklisted and never as much as mentioned. It is a structure of theory (ideology), a framework and the repertoire of discourses which - ultimately - yield a text or a practice. All the rest is excluded.
It, therefore, becomes clear that what is omitted is of no less importance than what is included in a text. The problematic of a text relates to its historical context (”moment”) by incorporating both: inclusions as well as omissions, presences as much as absences. The problematic of the text fosters the generation of answers to posed questions - and of defective answers to excluded questions.
(5) The task of “scientific” (e.g., Marxist) discourse, of Althusserian critical practice is to deconstruct the problematic, to read through ideology and evidence the real conditions of existence. This is a “symptomatic reading” of TWO TEXTS:
“It divulges the undivulged event in the text that it reads and, in the
same movement, relates to it a different text, present, as a necessary
absence, in the first … (Marx’s reading of Adam Smith) presupposes
the existence of two texts and the measurement of the first against
the second. But what distinguishes this new reading from the old,
is the fact that in the new one, the second text is articulated with the
lapses in the first text … (Marx measures) the problematic contained
in the paradox of an answer which does not correspond to any questions posed.”
Althusser is contrasting the manifest text with a latent text which is the result of the lapses, distortions, silences and absences in the manifest text. The latent text is the “diary of the struggle” of the unposed question to be posed and answered.
(6) Ideology is a practice with lived and material dimensions. It has costumes, rituals, behaviour patterns, ways of thinking. The State employs Ideological Apparatuses (ISAs) to reproduce ideology through practices and productions: (organized) religion, the education system, the family, (organized) politics, the media, the industries of culture.
“All ideology has the function (which defines it) of ‘constructing’
concrete individuals as subjects”
Subjects to what? The answer: to the material practices of the ideology. This (the creation of subjects) is done by the acts of “hailing” or “interpellation”. These are acts of attracting attention (hailing) , forcing the individuals to generate meaning (interpretation) and making them participate in the practice.
These theoretical tools were widely used to analyze the Advertising and the film industries.
The ideology of consumption (which is, undeniably, the most material of all practices) uses advertising to transform individuals to subjects (=to consumers). It uses advertising to interpellate them. The advertisements attract attention, force people to introduce meaning to them and, as a result, to consume. The most famous example is the use of “People like you (buy this or do that)” in ads. The reader / viewer is interpellated both as an individual (”you”) and as a member of a group (”people like…”). He occupies the empty (imaginary) space of the “you” in the ad. This is ideological “misrecognition”. First, many others misrecognize themselves as that “you” (an impossibility in the real world). Secondly, the misrecognized “you” exists only in the ad because it was created by it, it has no real world correlate.
The reader or viewer of the ad is transformed into the subject of (and subject to) the material practice of the ideology (consumption, in this case).
Althusser was a Marxist. The dominant mode of production in his days (and even more so today) was capitalism. His implied criticism of the material dimensions of ideological practices should be taken with more than a grain of salt. Interpellated by the ideology of Marxism himself, he generalized on his personal experience and described ideologies as infallible, omnipotent, ever successful. Ideologies, to him, were impeccably functioning machines which can always be relied upon to reproduce subjects with all the habits and thought patterns required by the dominant mode of production.
And this is where Althusser fails, trapped by dogmatism and more than a touch of paranoia. He neglects to treat two all-important questions (his problematic may have not allowed it):
(a) What do ideologies look for? Why do they engage in their practice? What is the ultimate goal?
(b) What happens in a pluralistic environment rich in competing ideologies?
Althusser stipulates the existence of two texts, manifest and hidden. The latter co-exists with the former, very much as a black figure defines its white background. The background is also a figure and it is only arbitrarily - the result of historical conditioning - that we bestow a preferred status upon the one. The latent text can be extracted from the manifest one by listening to the absences, the lapses and the silences in the manifest text.
But: what dictates the laws of extraction? how do we know that the latent text thus exposed is THE right one? Surely, there must exist a procedure of comparison, authentication and verification of the latent text?
A comparison of the resulting latent text to the manifest text from which it was extracted would be futile because it would be recursive. This is not even a process of iteration. It is teutological. There must exist a THIRD, “master-text”, a privileged text, historically invariant, reliable, unequivocal (indifferent to interpretation-frameworks), universally accessible, atemporal and non-spatial. This third text is COMPLETE in the sense that it includes both the manifest and the latent. Actually, it should include all the possible texts (a LIBRARY function). The historical moment will determine which of them will be manifest and which latent, according to the needs of the mode of production and the various practices. Not all these texts will be conscious and accessible to the individual but such a text would embody and dictate the rules of comparison between the manifest text and ITSELF (the Third Text) , being the COMPLETE text.
Only through a comparison between a partial text and a complete text can the deficiencies of the partial text be exposed. A comparison between partial texts will yield no certain results and a comparison between the text and itself (as Althusser suggests) is absolutely meaningless.
This Third Text is the human psyche. We constantly compare texts that we read to this Third Text, a copy of which we all carry with us. We are unaware of most of the texts incorporated in this master text of ours. When faced with a manifest text which is new to us, we first “download” the “rules of comparison (engagement)”. We sift through the manifest text. We compare it to our COMPLETE master text and see which parts are missing. These constitute the latent text. The manifest text serves as a trigger which brings to our consciousness appropriate and relevant portions of the Third Text. It also generates the latent text in us.
If this sounds familiar it is because this pattern of confronting (the manifest text), comparing (with our master text) and storing the results (the latent text and the manifest text are brought to consciousness) - is used by mother nature itself. The DNA is such a “Master Text, Third Text”. It includes all the genetic-biological texts some manifest, some latent. Only stimuli in its environment (=a manifest text) can provoke it to generate its own (hitherto latent) “text”. The same would apply to computer applications.
The Third Text, therefore, has an invariant nature (it includes all possible texts) - and, yet, is changeable by interacting with manifest texts. This contradiction is only apparent. The Third Text does not change - only different parts of it are brought to our awareness as a result of the interaction with the manifest text. We can also safely say that one does not need to be an Althusserian critic or engage in “scientific” discourse to deconstruct the problematic. Every reader of text immediately and always deconstructs it. The very act of reading involves comparison with the Third Text which inevitably leads to the generation of a latent text.
And this precisely is why some interpellations fail. The subject deconstructs every message even if he is not trained in critical practice. He is interpellated or fails to be interpellated depending on what latent message was generated through the comparison with the Third Text. And because the Third Text includes ALL possible texts, the subject is given to numerous competing interpellations offered by many ideologies, mostly at odds with each other. The subject is in an environment of COMPETING INTERPELLATIONS (especially in this day and age of information glut). The failure of one interpellation - normally means the success of another (whose interpellation is based on the latent text generated in the comparison process or on a manifest text of its own, or on a latent text generated by another text).
There are competing ideologies even in the most severe of authoritarian regimes. Sometimes, IASs within the same social formation offer competing ideologies: the political Party, the Church, the Family, the Army, the Media, the Civilian Regime, the Bureaucracy. To assume that interpellations are offered to the potential subjects successively (and not in parallel) defies experience (though it does simplify the thought-system).
Clarifying the HOW, though, does not shed light on the WHY.
Advertising leads to the interpellation of the subject to effect the material practice of consumption. Put more simply: there is money involved. Other ideologies - propagated through organized religions, for instance - lead to prayer. Could this be the material practice that they are looking for? No way. Money, prayer, the very ability to interpellate - they are all representations of power over other human beings. The business concern, the church, the political party, the family, the media, the culture industries - are all looking for the same thing: influence, power, might. Absurdly, interpellation is used to secure one paramount thing: the ability to interpellate. Behind every material practice stands a psychological practice (very much as the Third Text - the psyche - stands behind every text, latent or manifest).
The media could be different: money, spiritual prowess, physical brutality, subtle messages. But everyone (even individuals in their private life) is looking to hail and interpellate others and thus manipulate them to succumb to their material practices. A short sighted view would say that the businessman interpellates in order to make money. But the important question is: what ever for? What drives ideologies to establish material practices and to interpellate people to participate in them and become subjects? The will to power. the wish to be able to interpellate. It is this cyclical nature of Althusser’s teachings (ideologies interpellate in order to be able to interpellate) and his dogmatic approach (ideologies never fail) which doomed his otherwise brilliant observations to oblivion.
Note
In Althusser’s writings the Marxist determination remains as Over-determination. This is a structured articulation of a number of contradictions and determinations (between the practices). This is very reminiscent of Freud’s Dream Theory and of the concept of Superposition in Quantum Mechanics.
Sam Vaknin ( samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Global Politician, Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.
Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.
Visit Sam’s Web site at samvak.tripod.com
All About Abs - Ab Training
Exercises for Variety and Development Step by Step Abdominal Training Explained
Concept #1: How Many Times Per Week to Train Abs
Do you remember hearing somewhere that in order to get the abdominals you want; you’ve got to train them everyday? I know I heard that from several sources. None of those sources had super ripped abs.
Fact: Many of the people who DO have ripped abs train them 1-3 times per week.
Train your abs 1-3 times per week. I would recommend training them after a smaller body part workout like chest and biceps and abs, or shoulder, triceps and abs. You can do them on your off days as well. Try to avoid doing them with legs as it’s a major body part. Try to avoid doing them first as you’ll need your stabilizers to be 100% when they are used in other compound exercises.
You probably already know this… your abs can be trained a bit more frequently then most other muscle groups because of two factors:
1. The muscle density is different allowing for different recovery time
2. 99.9% of programs do not encourage you to train abs to muscular failure
You don’t want to train abs to muscular failure for the purpose of this guide.
Concept #2: How Many Exercises Per Session
If you’re like me, you don’t want another session added to your workout that is going to add another 20 minutes to your gym time. But like any other muscle, the abdominals require a bit of stimulation but just enough to grow and change and become stronger.
Unlike other body parts, you won’t be doing countless sessions for abs. In fact…
Use 3-5 exercises per session
That’s all you really need. Use the schedule listed in this guide or just pick 3 different exercises and do 3-5 different exercises per session. You can vary your rest up to 90 seconds.
You’ve got to wonder why people train abs by themselves for 30 or more minutes at a time. That’s crazy! And most of the people coming out of those “Ab Blaster” classes don’t even have abs. They are doing longer sessions for a single muscle group then you ever need to engage in.
Simply put, 3-5 exercises will do just fine.
Concept #3: Using Cardio as A Metabolism Boosting Tool
For maximum fat loss, you should do cardio 4-7 days per week for 30-60 minutes (the amount is variable depending on your results). You could continue running or mix up the type of cardio you do (stationary cycling, stairclimbing, elliptical machines, and other continuous aerobic activities are all excellent fat burners without the high impact and joint stress of frequent running).
If time efficiency is an issue for you, you could perform high intensity interval cardio training and achieve very efficient results with even briefer workouts (20-30 min per sessions, or less, if the intensity is high enough) Once you are satisfied with your level of body fat and your abdominal definition, you can cut back to 3 days per week for 20-30 minutes for maintenance.
Concept #4: Advanced Techniques
Part of this guide is to ensure that you use all the techniques possible in order to achieve the results you want. There are two techniques you can use so that your routine doesn’t become ‘routine.’
1. Tempo Variation: Another way to increase the effectiveness of the training program is to focus on the tempo of the exercise. Tempo just means the speed of the exercise. For example, a 3-1-1 tempo means you’ll take 3 seconds to lower the weight, then you’ll pause for 1 second, and then you’ll lift the weight back up in 1 second.
2. Variety: It’s been said that your body will adapt to any routine within 5-6 workouts. By including many different exercises, it will be impossible to adapt. Not only will your body be continually challenged but the variety will help to ward of getting bored of doing the same things every week, every workout.
3. Multiple Angles: While the abdominals are classified as a ’single’ muscle, that doesn’t mean you can’t work it from a variety of angles in order to achieve the maximum stimulation. Many times an individual will have their upper abdominals developed but are lacking any real “visual” development in the lower abs. Rather then focus on a section of the abdominals, this guide will encourage you to work the muscle from a variety of angles for the best possible stimulation.
Stay tuned for Part 4 that will flat out give you 6 months worth of ab workouts you can do.
Copyright 2006 Marc David
If you can’t wait, the Beginner’s Guide to Abdominal Training is just one bonus book in the Beginner’s Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com Learn how to develop the perfect set of abs, the nutritional secrets that will have you in summer shape and the revolutionary training that eliminates the need for 100+ crunches per day. Proven methods to get your abdominals to show.
Healthcare professionals call an enlarged prostate gland benign prostate hyperplasia, or BPH. In layman’s terms this actually means that the prostate gland, a gland similar in shape to a walnut situated just below the bladder and enveloping the urethra, swells this can impair or stop the stream of urine. The prostate grows as the years pass and as a result may engender complaints for example troubles with passing urine, diminished urinary stream, and even a sense of the bladder still being uncomfortably distended even after passing water. Frequent micturition during the night and continual urinary tract infections are further symptoms that can ensue from prostate gland swelling.
What Is Benign Prostate Hypertrophy?
Benign Prostate Hyperplasia is considered one of the most common medical conditions of males over sixty. An annual test is urged for males over 50, regardless of the presentation of symptoms, for the upkeep of prostate gland health. Inability to pass water or blood is detected whilst urinating is a sign to seek medical treatment directly. Treatments for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia may be surgical procedures and drug therapy. Regrettably, surgical operations may lead to more troubles such as impotence or inability to control micturition. Hypertension treatments or medicines to reduce the prostate are frequently given to improve prostate gland wellness, however, medicines often result in negative repercussions. What holistic alternatives are recommended?
Enlarged Prostate Gland Problems? Discover Natural Solutions to Gain a Healthier Prostate Gland
To encourage improved prostate gland health and reduce the common symptoms brought on by an enlarged prostate gland, several herbal formulae may help. Inflammation is controlled by the herb Afican pygeum, providing a significant reduction of the symptoms. Made from the fruit of an African evergreen tree, African pygeum has been tested on a large scale by the Europeans as a natural formula for improved prostate gland health. Dietetic factors for example cutting back the intake of fat may help, as well as increasing exercise, pressure in the prostate can be lessened thru ejaculating regularly, it is also better to try to avoid sitting for a long period of time. Problems may sometimes be worsened thru utilising anti-histamines or decongestant drugs purchased over the counter, so please consume these with caution. Additional hints include not taking anything to drink within a few hours of bedtime to cut down on trips to the bathroom at night, and keeping down alcohol and drinking much less coffee and tea may reduce the symptoms of an enlarged prostate. There’s also a great selection of further alternative remedies being used for improved prostatic health — such as the herb saw palmetto, Borago officinalis oil capsules, the element selenium, and lycopene, a molecule found in tomatoes. Be sure to talk about your plans with your health care professional before starting any natural treatment of a swollen prostate.
There is no denying the fact that the success of a firm ultimately is as a result of the hard work of the employees, but one incident can swiftly wipe out your efforts and shrink the profits to dust. So, to evade such an instance, you need to insure your company, whether it is a small enterprise or a big corporation. However, please note that SMEs are a great deal more probable to need business insurance cover in today’s world. This is mainly as smaller organisation owners will have placed their total lives & pay straight into the company.
Several of the things generally guarded by nearly every business insurance covers include: natural disasters, tornadoes, mechanism or equipment defect that closes down the firm, loss of profits due to staff blunder and lawsuits brought against the business.
There are several insurance firms, which offer policy covers that include protection for all important property and liability risks in one package. You can also acquire a separate cover. Such a policy is frequently labelled as a business owners’ policy (BOP). Large sized businesses might well get a commercial cover.
BOPs consist of property insurance for property & equipments owned by the business. If there is any loss of earnings because of disruption of processes & business because of catastrophes such as earthquakes, it can be covered under the Business Interruption policy. Protect yourself against legal action with professional indemnity insurance.
There are a variety of liabilities, which insure the businesses legal accountability for the injury it could cause to others. It is the effect your company’s failure to do the business operations. It can also be the actual injury or property damage caused thanks to malfunctioning items, faulty fittings & slip-ups in services offered.
Still, BOPs do not cover against professional liability, vehicle insurance, employees’ re-payment or health and disability cover. In this case separate policies are essential for professional services, motor vehicles & workers. On the whole, floods, earthquakes & terrorist attacks are not covered in the business policy. Please check before you buy!
Every challenging occupation yields some sort of satisfaction, but the fitness professionals industry had an amazing 85% job satisfaction rate according to an Idea Health & Fitness survey.
Job Satisfaction
In the same survey, 98% of those interviewed felt that “My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment.” Lack of personal satisfaction is the most frequent reason why people leave a job. These statistics make it obvious that this is an extremely harmonious atmosphere to work in.
For many of us who worked in the corporate world and shifted into the health and fitness industry, the energy felt in a health club, ashram, or wellness center is similar to being on vacation.
There’s always something to do, but the job itself is very gratifying.
Rewards of Helping Family, Friends, Students, and Co-workers
Your self esteem improves as you find solutions for the pain management of others, ailments, fitness, stress management, positive thinking, etc.
The list goes on, as you continue your own journey of self improvement, but the feeling of gratification you get from helping someone find the right path, is beyond words.
You will always remember: That student who reaches their ideal body weight, the physically impaired student who finds that they, too, can live a better quality life, and the student who leaves your class without the headache or backache they came in with.
Your Own Health
As a practitioner of Yoga, you have become more aware of your daily ups and downs. You monitor your breath, posture, moods, diet, and exercise on a daily basis.
As a Yoga teacher, you are setting an example to your students and teaching them to live a quality life. This path will enable you to live longer and live better.
There is no Shortage of Work
When the working world is in the “9 to 5″ mode, you have many opportunities with Corporate Accounts, The Fitness Industry, Senior Centers, Medical
Centers, Referrals, etc. This is when you to teach them, with any free time you have.
Once I became totally self-employed, there were more daytime off-site Yoga teaching opportunities than I had time for in a geographic area that has many active Yoga teachers and studios. One of my best students, who became a Yoga teacher through our on-site program, inherited an area that I could no longer service due to time restraints.
The object is to contact them. This is where your post cards come in handy, if you don’t have a personal referral.
Continuing Education
Yes, learning new things keeps your mind stimulated and healthy. You will never tire of subjects to study, explore, and investigate. There are so many facets of Yoga, that one life span, is just not enough time to learn it all.
It’s not a race, but it is a journey. You will find friends, colleagues, and students who are on the same path. This makes giving, receiving, and sharing a wonderful thing along the way.
Time
You will have time to stop, think, breathe, relax, or meditate. You can always fill your plate beyond its limits, but you no longer have to.
You can determine whether or not you will be stuck in traffic during rush hour. You decide what hours you will work and what days you have off. You will come to the realization that your time is your own.
Independence
Everyone wants control of their own life, but very few achieve it. Being in business for yourself, can help you control your own destiny and that of your family.
Sure there are limits to what one person can accomplish, but it is better to try than to have never tried.
Success
No matter what you want, if you write down your short-term and long-term goals, you will make great progress toward them.
You should keep these goals in a place where you can see them daily and visualize yourself accomplishing your goals. You should be specific about time frames and ethical methods used to meet them. You can even use them in meditation.
Review your long-term goals at least once every season and every year.
Review your short-term goals daily. You will see yourself make rapid success
in this way.
Lastly, goals do not have to be material at all. For example: You may want to start teaching Yoga in a year, and the following year, get a part-time Yoga teaching position. This type of goal setting is realistic and beneficial to mankind.
That is the key - If you choose a goal that will benefit others, you will surely achieve it.
Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.
www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
With all of the choices for prepaid phone cards available, selecting the best card for you can be quite intimidating. Here are the major factors you should consider when buying a phone card. Remember, don’t be fooled by advertised low rates, as they tell only part of the story. The true cost of the long distance you will end up paying for depends on factors such as connection, maintenance and service fees. By asking yourself the following questions, you will be able to select the best phone card for your needs:
How often will you use the prepaid phone card? If you use the card regularly (everyday or every other day) until it is used up, you can choose a card with a low rate and a weekly or monthly maintenance fee. By using the card quickly (within a week) you will use up the card before you will have to pay any fees.
How long will you talk on the phone for each call? If you are making long calls (over 20 minutes per call) but infrequently (once a month), you can buy a prepaid phone card that has a connection fee in conjunction with a low per minute rate. This way you will spread out the cost of the connection charge over many minutes that you talk on each call. However if you make a call and no one answers or you leave a message, you will still be charged the connection fee. If you talk infrequently but for longer calls, you don’t want to buy a card with a maintenance fee with this scenario because you will be charged a fee for not using the card very often. These fees will eat away at your phone cards balance, reducing the amount of money remaining on the card.
How long will it take for you to use up the phone card? If you plan on having a card for a while and don’t make long phone calls, don’t buy one with a maintenance fee or connection fee. These cards tend to have a higher per minute rate but they are worth it with this scenario. Remember you can always buy another one or refill a phone card if that option is available. Also, you need to beware of the expiry date on the card from when you activated it. Be sure you can use the entire card up before it expires as any money left on the card once it expires will be gone.
In order to maximize your calling time, you want a card that is going to give you the cheapest total calling time for all calls that you make and not just a low per minute cost. You need to look at all charges to determine which phone card is best depending on how you will use it.
Chris Stevenson has been using prepaid phone cards for over 10 years and has been scammed many times by phone cards that advertise low rates only to cost more due to hidden fees.
There’s been about 1.5m snowfall during the week. It has been so heavy that lifts were shut down, the train has been terminating at Chamonix’s train staion and not traveling onwards to Argentiere and delays with Geneva transfers. Some roads have been closed and weather announcements issued.
Contrast this to 2 winters past, when we experienced the incredibly warm January conditions, grass showing on ski slopes, and reports that climate change would mean the death of snowboarding in the Alps. Highlighting this the study from winter 2005 warned that global warming would make skiing far too dear for many skiers, with a lot of resorts going bust and the melting of glaciers. Scientists say that it’s nearly impossible to ascribe the yearly deviations in the snow conditions to the results of climate change.
We could be experiencing the biggest recession in 30 yrs, and the pound has plummeted to record levels against the euro, however the conditions are supreme, and the last reservations highlight that snowboarders are eager to enjoy the great skiing conditions. This season is probably the finest in six seasons, and many people are stating that it is the finest skiing conditions in at least ten years.
All the same remember that this amount of snow means significant risks of avalanche.
How to Negotiate Effectively
By Gary E. Cain, M. Ed. Author
You may be thinking, “Gary, I am a mom, housewife, or stay-at-home dad, so why do I need to know how to negotiate effectively?”
I’m glad you asked.
The truth is everyone needs to negotiate. Surprisingly, almost everything we do the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed involves some type of “negotiating”.
I know, you are saying that I have lost my mind, but no, seriously, we do negotiate -continuously.
Let’s say, you are 18 years old, live with your parents, yet work. So, you wake up at 6 am and begin a negotiation with your younger brother who is already in the very bathroom that you need in order to take a shower and get ready for work.
To avoid arriving late to work, you quickly offer to pay $5.00 to him to leave the bathroom immediately so that you can take a shower.
Next, you head into the kitchen to negotiate with your mother over your preference for orange juice and toast for breakfast, while she is counter-negotiating a complete meal of oatmeal, eggs, milk, and sausage.
Who wins this negotiation is anyone’s guess.
The point is that all of us constantly negotiate. For example, we negotiate - or should — with our car mechanic to lessen the cost of maintenance and repairs.
Soooo …. to help you succeed in your negotiations, I have prepared this special article that will outline the tools and knowledge you need to succeed.
First, you need to know “what is a negotiation.” Simply put, it is the exchange of ideas with the intention of changing relationships, agreements, or viewpoints.
Negotiation requires …
1. Calmness 2. Understanding of people 3. Preparation before the negotiation (preferably written) 4. Strategy for success (you need to know what the other side wants from the negotiation)
Remember that negotiation requires that you give something of perceived value in order to receive something of value.
Negotiation may be giving up something today for a later advantage.
Here is a short list of a non-aggressive negotiation strategy:
Know what you want Know what the other side wants Note the “feelings” of your opponent Verbally accept the opponent’s viewpoint Give your opinion and ask for opponent’s opinion Give positive comments and ask for positive comments Respect differences of opinion Verbally express “how” the two sides are similar Strive to reach “mutual” benefits Build a strong relationship for future negotiations
Be sure to note …
…the tone of your voice. …how you pronounce your words. …your own body language. …your opponent’s body language.
Finally, remember that you should always keep the relationship positive so that you can return and negotiate another day.