Get to Know Gary Halbert - The Prince of Print

Do you know who Gary Halbert is? Unless you are a copywriter or an internet marketer, you probably don't know the name. He's an interesting guy. He's had a lot of ups and downs in his life, BUT from a marketing and "get off your butt and do something with your life" standpoint, he's second-to-none.

His style is pretty harsh, so he's not for the those who are easily offended. However, in addition to my quest to be a positive influence for you, I also want to help you succeed in whatever you do both professionally and personally. For this reason, I would like to invite you to read his newsletters.

He has archived his letters online, and they are FREE to read.

I recommend you read them with an open mind especially if you have ever thought about running your own business, or if you need marketing ideas for your current business. If nothing else, his letters are very entertaining to read. But, I warn you again, if you are offended by an occasional curse word or someone who tells it exactly how it is, he may not be for you. I don't agree with everything he says nor with his style all the time, but he does have a wealth of valuable knowledge to share with us all.

To sign up to receive his newsletters, go to The Gary Halbert Letter. For the archives of all of his letters, go here.

Good luck and make it a great day!

You Can Make A Difference

Here's an inspirational little story from our friends at InspirationalQuotes4u.com:

Early one evening a man was walking along a beach when he saw a boy picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. The man asked the boy why he was doing this. The boy explained the starfish would die if left to the morning. The man asked the boy, "What difference will your efforts make when there are thousands of starfish on the beach?" The boy stopped and looked at the starfish he was holding and said, "It will make a difference to this one."

This story reminds me of the quote from Edward Everett Hale: "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do."

There are a countless number of opportunities where we can make a difference every day.

At times, however, we do not take action because we think we can only do a little and it won't make a difference. However, the story and the quote above reminds us that even if we can only do a little, we can make a difference.

It is all in your own attitude!

Make it a great day!

PGA Tour and Tournament Players Clubs Partner to Aid Military Families

Did you know that the PGA Tour has raised over a BILLION dollars for charity since it's conception? It is very nice to see that an organization made up of mostly affluent individuals has donated so much money back to charity. This story from PGATour.com is just another way they are giving back:

"Underscoring its commitment to give back, the PGA TOUR teamed up with 23 Tournament Players Clubs (TPCs) nationwide last summer to raise funds for U.S. troops and their families.

More than $420,000 was raised through golf tournaments and other activities conducted at the clubs from July through September under the umbrella of America Supports You, a nationwide program launched by the Department of Defense that recognizes citizens' support for military men and women and communicates that support to members of our Armed Forces at home and abroad."

"We applaud our TOUR players and TPC members, guests and employees for embracing this important initiative in support of the brave men and women of the U.S. military who perform acts of bravery and self-sacrifice on a daily basis," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. "This outstanding fundraising effort complements the TOUR's giving back mission aimed at enhancing and enriching our communities through support of worthy charitable causes such as this one."

To read the complete story, go to PGATour.com.

Make it a great day!

Baby Survives Floating Inside Plastic Bag on Lake

It's amazing what some people do with their babies... Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. Check out this story from MSN.com -- "A baby girl found inside a plastic bag floating on a lake in Brazil was released from hospital Sunday in good condition, doctors said.

The girl, apparently two months old, was rescued Saturday afternoon by a couple who heard her crying in the Pampulha Lagoon in Belo Horizonte, a city about 300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.

Amateur footage broadcast on Brazilian TV showed rescuers using a long tree branch to pull the black plastic bag out of the water. They opened the bag and found the girl inside, dressed in a pink dress."

"Authorities arrested the mother of the baby later Sunday, but she denied throwing the girl into the lake, Globo reported. The mother said she gave the baby away to a group of homeless people because she didn’t have enough money to raise the child."

To read the complete story, go to MSN.com.

Make it a great day!

The Australian Open - What a Show!

Did you follow this year's Australian Open? If you missed it, you missed a great tournament. The story lines were everywhere. Here are some of the highlights:

• Roger Federer wins his 7th grand slam tournament. He is now only the third man ever to win three grand slam tournaments in a row having won last years Wimbledon and the US Open and now the Australian Open. And, he is only 24 years old! He truly has an opportunity to become the best player ever.
• Marcos Baghdatis - Who? If you missed the tournament, then you probably have no idea who he is. Well, if you missed it, you missed a spectacular showing from this young man from the island of Cyprus. He lost in the final to Federer, but along the way, he beat Andy Roddick, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian. He also won the hearts of fans all over the world because of his ever-present smile and positive attitude. By the way, he is only 20 years old. I don't think we've seen the last of him.
• Martina Hingis - Remember her? The former #1 player in the world retired from the game over three years ago, but at 26 decided to try her luck in the game again. She came back with a carefree attitude and in the best shape I have ever seen her in. She played inspired tennis, and made it all the way to the women's quarterfinals before losing in three sets to Kim Clijsters. What a lot of fans probably don't even know is she won the Mixed Doubles title with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi. That is amazing!
  
• Speaking of doubles, the Bryan Brothers, Bob and Mike, finally won the Australian Open men's doubles championship. The brothers were runners-up the last two years. As you may remember from one of my earlier posts, I am a big fan of doubles and am glad to see that the Bryan Brothers and Travis Parrott stood their ground and fought back against the ATP's proposed changes to the doubles game. It's a strong testimony to the power of a team. The doubles specialists stuck together and are helping Save the Doubles Game. Great work guys and congratulations to Bob and Mike on their 1st Australian Open Doubles title.

It was a great tournament with so many inspiring players. I can't wait for the French Open...

Make it a great day!

J. Anthony

What is PositivePelham.com?

Sawyer Brown - They Don't Understand

Do you listen to the words of songs on the radio? Not just passively, but really listen? I always have. I like all types of music, but lately I have listened to a lot of country music on the radio. Mainly because I like the positive messages a lot of the songs portray, and also because I'm not to crazy about the direction and sound of pop music these days.

A song by the group Sawyer Brown caught my ear the other day, and I thought I would share the lyrics with you here. The title of the song is They Don't Understand, and I think it is an important message they are conveying. I've said it before, but you never know what someone else is going through, so be careful what you say or do to someone, and always be on the lookout to help someone rather than put them down. Here are the words:

A mother riding on a city bus
Kids are yelling kicking up a fuss
Everybody's staring not knowing what she's going through
Somebody said don't you even care?
Do you let 'em do that everywhere?
She slowly turned around, looked up and stared
She said Please forgive them
But they've been up all night
Their father struggled but he finally lost his fight
He went to heaven
In the middle of the night
So please forgive my children

(They don't understand)
Everybody's busy with their own situation
Everybody's lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
(They don't understand)
Everybody's living like there ain't no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor's going through
(They don't understand)

A man driving on the interstate
Slowing down traffic making everybody late
Everybody's staring not knowing what he's going through
Somebody hollered from the passing lane
Yelled out the window, hey ain't got all day
The old man looked around and caught his eye
He said please forgive me
You know it's been a long life
My wife has passed away and my kids don't have the time
I've been left all alone
And its getting hard to drive
So please forgive me children

(They don't understand)
Everybody's busy with their own situation
Everybody's lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
(They don't understand)
Everybody's living like there ain't no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor's going through
(They don't understand)

A man hanging on a wooden cross
Giving everything to save the lost
Everybody's staring not knowing what he's going through
Somebody said you don't have a prayer
If you were keen you'd come down from there
The man just turned his head looked up and stared

He said please forgive them
For they have not seen the light
They'll come to know me when I come back to life
Go to heaven, to make everything all right
So please forgive your children

(They don't understand)
Everybody's busy with their own situation
Everybody's lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
(They don't understand)
Everybody's living like there ain't no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor's going through
(They don't understand)

A mother riding on a city bus
Kids are yelling kicking up a fuss
Everybody's staring not knowing what she's going through

If you'd like to hear the song, you can preview it here at Amazon.com.

Good luck today and make it a great day!

J. Anthony.

Gates Pledges $900 Million for TB Research

From CBSNews.com -- "Bill Gates pledged Friday to triple his foundation's funding for eradicating tuberculosis to $900 million, and health experts at the World Economic Forum urged renewed caution against the spread of bird flu.

The funding is part of a larger campaign against TB, which killed 1.6 million people worldwide last year. Gates, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and British treasury chief Gordon Brown called for help to prevent 14 million tuberculosis deaths over the next decade.

"This is a very tough disease," said Gates, the Microsoft Corp. chairman and co-founder. "It is going to take all of us _ private sector, the pharmaceutical companies, philanthropy and governments in countries that have the disease _ to participate as well."

To continue reading this article, go to CBSNews.com.

No matter what your thoughts are towards Microsoft and Bill Gates, what he is doing is a good thing. He may be filthy rich, but he seems to have a good heart. Well done Bill!

Make it a great day!

Best Bet to Stop Smoking...Do it on a Whim

In an article on Yahoo! News today, studies have shown that people who stop smoking on a whim with no planning at all are more likely to be successful at stopping smoking than people who have a plan of attack.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

"Putting a lot of thought and planning into quitting smoking may not be the best route to success, a new study finds."

"A very large proportion, probably about half, of attempts to stop smoking are made without any pre-planning at all," said lead researcher Robert West, a professor of health psychology at University College London. "People just suddenly decide to quit and do it."

Not only do about 50 percent of quitters decide to quit suddenly, but they are more successful at quitting, West added."

"Stopping smoking suddenly may reflect a more complete intellectual switch -- the kind of shift that can turn a smoker into a nonsmoker, West said. "The triggers that cause this kind of shift can be very small -- having a cold, something someone says, or even a storm outside when one's run out of cigarettes."

To read the complete story, go to Yahoo! News.

Make it a great day, and if you want to stop smoking, just do it right now! Don't plan...don't procrastinate...Just do it!

You Know All Those Things You’re Going to Do "Someday?"

Here is an interesting article I found today. The author, Cathy Stucker, the IdeaLady, offers up some steps to help you face your fears and get the motivation you need to succeed NOW, not some time in the distant future.

Here are the steps she recommends:

1. Specifically define what you want to do.
2. Know why you want to do it.
3. Visualize your success.
4. Surround yourself with others who support your vision.
5. Use your success as a springboard to other successes

For complete details about each of the above five steps, go to this page on her website.

Make it a great day and do something you have been putting off NOW!

J. Anthony

Why did I start Positive Pelham?

Al Roker Celebrates 10 Years on 'Today'

From Yahoo! News -- "He's only two-thirds the man he used to be, but Al Roker won't be eating heartily to celebrate 10 years on NBC's "Today" show. He's dieting.

"Today" was to mark the formerly rotund weatherman's anniversary on the air Friday.

"I was just thrilled to get the gig to begin with," Roker told The Associated Press. "Ten years later to still have it is not only thrilling but also somewhat of a puzzlement."

Due to his gastric bypass operation in 2002, Roker spent the past few years as the incredibly shrinking man. With the Winter Olympics again near, his thoughts drift to the Salt Lake City games in 2002, just weeks before he went into surgery.

"I ate myself stupid," he said. "I thought, `I'm never going to eat like this again.' The only trick was to make sure I didn't have a heart attack before I did the deal."

He was 330 pounds at his peak, and bottomed out at 200. He has gone back up to 225 pounds, which is why he's trying to take some more off now.

"Today" is on a high right now, having beaten back a challenge from ABC's "Good Morning America." During the week of Jan. 16, the "Today" lead was up to 1.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research."

To continue reading this story, go to Yahoo! News.

Make it a great day!

WEF: Demand for Nurses Likely to Climb

From LATimes.com -- Wondering what careers are in hot demand...

"The jobs of tomorrow are here today -- there's just going to be a need for many more of them, officials at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting predicted Wednesday.

At a round-table discussion of employment staffing company officials, academics and trade groups, the prognosis for future job growth pointed directly toward medicine, nursing, and traditional jobs that have often been overlooked in an era of high technology: plumbers, construction and electricians." To continue reading this article, go to LATimes.com.

Make it a great day!

Man Exonerated by DNA is Freed After 24 Years

I can only imagine how miserable it must have been when he was convicted 24 years ago. Imagine knowing you didn't do something, but being found gilty and sent to prison for the rest of your life. That is the ordeal Alan Crotzer went through, but his story has a happy ending...

From MSNBC.com -- "Alan Crotzer stepped into the warm sunlight outside the courthouse Monday and raised his arms to the sky, celebrating his freedom after more than 24 years behind bars for crimes he didn’t commit.

A judge freed the 45-year-old Crotzer after DNA testing and other evidence convinced prosecutors he was not involved in the 1981 armed robbery and rapes that led to his 130-year prison sentence.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Crotzer, his black hair graying at the temples. “Thank God for this day.”

To read the complete story, go to MSNBC.com.

Make it a great day!

J. Anthony

Why did I start Positive Pelham?

Quote from Dale Carnegie

"Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date." – Dale Carnegie

To summarize... Life is short. Live every moment as if it were your last and enjoy where you are and who you are with. Don't wait until tomorrow to be happy. Tomorrow may never come...

Make it a great day!

J. Anthony

Why did I start Positive Pelham?

The Doomslayer

I first read this article a long time ago in Wired magazine. I had forgotten about the article until I happened upon a link to it online today. It is a long article, but one that I think you will enjoy as well as one you need to read. To wet your apetite for this article, here is the introduction:

The environment is going to hell, and human life is doomed to only get worse, right? Wrong. Conventional wisdom, meet Julian Simon, the Doomslayer.

This is the litany: Our resources are running out. The air is bad, the water worse. The planet's species are dying off - more exactly, we're killing them -at the staggering rate of 100,000 peryear, a figure that works out to almost 2,000 species per week, 300 per day, 10 perhour, another dead species every six minutes.We're trashing the planet, washing away the topsoil, paving over our farmlands, systematically deforesting our wildernesses, decimating the biota, and ultimately killing ourselves.

The world is getting progressively poorer, and it's all because of population, or more precisely, overpopulation. There's a finite store of resources on our pale blue dot, spaceship Earth, our small and fragile tiny planet, and we're fast approaching its ultimate carrying capacity. The limits to growth are finally upon us, and we're living on borrowed time. The laws of population growth are inexorable. Unless we act decisively, the final result is written in stone: mass poverty, famine, starvation, and death.

Time is short, and we have to act now.

That's the standard and canonical litany. It's been drilled into our heads so far and so forcefully that to hear it yet once more is ... well, it's almost reassuring. It's comforting, oddly consoling - at least we're face to face with the enemies: consumption, population, mindless growth. And we know the solution: cut back, contract, make do with less. "Live simply so that others may simply live."

There's just one problem with The Litany, just one slight little wee imperfection: every item in that dim and dreary recitation, each and every last claim, is false. Incorrect. At variance with the truth.

Not the way it is, folks.

Thus saith The Doomslayer, one Julian L. Simon, a neither shy nor retiring nor particularly mild-mannered professor of business administration at a middling eastern-seaboard state university. Simon paints a somewhat different picture of the human condition circa 1997.

To read the entire article and find out why Julian says we are actually better off now than ever before, go to Wired.com.

As always, make it a great day!

3 Ways You Can Live Like Oprah Today

While browsing the web today, I came across an article that I think you'll enjoy. It's written by a leadership coach named Inez Ng. In the article, she explains how anyone can live a life like Oprah's. This doesn't mean we will all be as rich as Oprah, but we can learn to live a happier and more fulfilled life by following the three simple ways described in this article.

Here are the three steps Inez mentions:

1. Live a life of gratitude - Living a life of gratitude doesn't mean throwing lavish parties, although that sounds like a mighty fine idea if you can pull it off. It means showing appreciation for what we have, whether it is a huge fortune, or a small windfall. It means saying thank you to others for what they have done for us, no matter how significant or trivial. It means thinking of others and being outward focused instead of thinking about “me, me, me” all the time.
2. Live a life of generosity - Oprah generously shares her struggles and experiences, and in doing so, she gives others hope that they too can overcome whatever obstacles are in their way. She generously shares her own life lessons, and in doing so, she teaches us wisdom. She generously offers her affection. She appears to genuinely like her audience, her guests, and her staff. In relating to her, she made us more open to love and trust. What would happen with your relationships if you were more open and affectionate? How will people respond if you accepted them without judgment?
3. Live a life of evolution and growth - Life offers us lessons everyday and the only tuition we pay is our willingness to accept them. There is no better example of this in practice than Oprah'’s "“What I Know for Sure"” articles that she writes. She takes everyday experiences and translates them into a lesson for how she wants to approach life. I don'’t know if you have an opinion, but her life seems to be working pretty darn well to me.

To read the complete article, go to EzineArticles.com.

Make it a great day!

His Greatest Treasure

Today's post comes courtesy of Heartwarmers4u.com. It is one of the emails I received from the Petwarmers email list. I think this story will touch your heart whether you are a dog owner or not...

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog, Lucky. Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy.

Inevitably someone would forget and something would end up missing. Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease. She was just sure it was fatal. She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.

The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her. What would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim he was Mary's dog through and through. "If I die Lucky will be abandoned," Mary thought. "He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him." The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully but the dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

But finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.

Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed. When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. Panic soon gave way to laughter though when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, in every treasure Lucky owned!

While she had slept, Lucky made trip after trip to the basement and brought his beloved mistress his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every night. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure. Live everyday to the fullest because every day is a blessing from God!

-- Author Unknown

If you would like to subscribe to the Petwarmers email list, you can sign up by clicking here.

Make it a great day!

Cat Calls 911, Helps Owner

This is one heck of a story....

An old man falls out of his wheelchair and can't reach the phone. He had trained his cat, Tommy, to dial 911 if he was in trouble, and apparently, that is exactly what Tommy did. When the police got to the man's apartment, Tommy was lying on the living room floor next to the phone. You've got to read this one for yourself... Go to 11Alive's Pet of the Week website to read the entire story.

Partnership Rebuilds Paralyzed Veteran's House

From HappyNews.com -- "A veteran's home is getting a much needed makeover, thanks to a partnership between the Armed Forces Foundation and the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs.

Since his last mission, during Operation Just Cause in Panama, the tiny hallways and rooms in Tom Caldwell's North Carolina house have made simple tasks, like going to the bathroom, a multiperson affair.

Caldwell, a Special Forces veteran, lost the use of his legs in combat 17 years ago. This summer, he will have a house that allows him his independence, thanks to a partnership between the Armed Forces Foundation, a nonprofit organization based here, and North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs.

Caldwell became a paraplegic in December 1989 from injuries suffered during a helicopter crash while helping to rescue Kurt Muse, an American who had been imprisoned for making radio broadcasts critical of Manuel Noriega's government. Noriega had promised to kill Muse if Americans invaded Panama."

To continue reading about this wonderful story and find out what they plan to do to Caldwell's house, go to HappyNews.com. And, whatever you do, don't ever forget our veterans. They fought, some died and others were paralyzed so you and I can read about them while sitting in our homes within this wonderful FREE country!

Make it a great day!

Develop a Better and Healthier Marriage - 33 Ways to Grow Closer Together

From ReadersDigest.com -- "All couples get married expecting that their relationship will remain as warm, loving, and intimate as it was on their wedding day. And for many couples, it does. There's no secret and no luck involved: These couples have simply learned to devote time and attention to their marriage. Not just sometimes, but every day.

The fact is, like a garden, you must attend to love. While the sun and rain will do their part to make a garden bloom, you still have to pull the weeds, fertilize, and provide tender loving care. The good news is that in any relationship, particularly an intimate one, taking small, simple steps can bring big results.

So check out the tips below. Most fall in the category of what we like to call "random acts of romance." You're sure to find more than a few ways to keep your love alive, vital, and evergreen, no matter how long you've been brushing your teeth side by side."

Here are 10 of the 33 tips. For complete details on all 33 ways to grow closer together, go to ReadersDigest.com:

1. Say thank you at least once a day.
2. Deliver on your promises.
3. Develop a common interest.
4. Rekindle your spirituality.
5. Treat your spouse with respect and admiration in public.
6. Schedule time for lovemaking.
7. Make sure your bedroom is a sanctuary.
8. Pursue your own interests.
9. Take a weekend getaway.
10. Always put your marriage first, even if you have a houseful of kids.

Again, to find out what the other 23 tips are as well as descriptions of each one, go to this page on ReadersDigest.com.

Make it a great day!

Christmas Brings a Special Award for Katrina Victim

As life goes on around the United States, the victims of Hurricane Katrina are still living through the nightmare that ravaged their world this past fall. The courage and perseverance shown by many of the victims is truly inspiring. If you haven't read some of their stories, you should. A good place to start is the online diaries on MSNBC.com.

One of the diaries tells the story of a police officer whose home was completely destroyed along with a special "Police Officer of the Month" award he received from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. But, due to the caring staff at the NLEOMF, they surprised him with a Christmas gift he'll never forget. To read about this story, go to MSNBC.com.

Make it a great day!

Social networking for man's best friend

As some of you know, I am a dog owner. A running joke my wife and I have is we are not dog owners, but rather, we are Biscuit's (our dog's name) pets and slaves since she is treated like royalty and seems to rule the household. That is why I found this article interesting. It's about a website called Dogster.com. Here is an excerpt from the article on CNet.com:

"Social networking Web sites are all the rage these days. Sites such as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and others allow users to create little corners of the Internet that are all their own. But the trend isn't only for bipedal Web fanatics. A site called Dogster gives our furry friends the opportunity to post photos, share their personalities, make new friends and even maintain blogs.

On Dogster, which won the 2005 Webby Award in the community category, Web savvy humans take a back seat to their lovable companions. Much like Friendster and MySpace, dogs can make friends with each other, leave "treats," the doggie equivalent of a testimonial, and can even note what sort of mood they're in that day. But it's not all just about having fun. Dog lovers can browse profiles of adoptable dogs in their area, a way to find good homes for dogs in need."

As you can see from the description above, this is a neat website if you are pet owner, and after browsing the site for a while, it's definitely a worthwhile site to join if you don't own a dog, but are considering adopting one. They have numerous dogs up for adoption on the site. Check it out. You'll have fun on the site, and you just might find yourself a new four-legged best friend...

Make it a great day!

Write Your Own AutoBiography

As I was thinking about what to write today, I came across a website called TheRememberingSite.org. The site struck a cord with me today because my wife's sister's husband's mom died yesterday. It was unexpected and it reminded me of when my uncle died unexpectedly a couple of years ago. Now, anytime I see a photo of my uncle, I am taken back to the good times I had with him when he was alive. He was so much fun to be around and he always had a big smile on his face every time I saw him.

That is why I think this site's purpose is so unique. We have all read the biography of someone famous before. Whether it was of one of the past presidents or a deceased celebrity. But, the real "biographies" that I would like to read are those of friends or loved ones. This site makes it easy to do. They ask you thousands of questions and as you answer each question, you are completing an autobiography. You can upload pictures along the way and once complete, you can have copies of your biography made to send to friends and family members.

Here are just a few of the questions they ask:

• Do you feel as if you were in the right career for you? What would have been your dream career?
• Do you remember your first kiss?
• When your children moved out, did the house feel like a different place? Did you like it as much?
• Can you remember what you daydreamed about as you looked out of your bedroom window in the house of your growing up?
• What have been the personal landmarks in your life? Did you turn at the Sunoco station when you were coming home from your errands? Was there a newsstand you stopped at frequently? What did you see every day on your route to school? To work?
• What advice would you give to a child?
• Do you like your birthday or do you dread it? What birthday do you remember the most from your youth? What kind of parties did your parents give for you?

This is a really neat idea. Check out the site and see what you think. You just might find yourself writing your own biography...

Make it a great day!

9 Steps To Living Abundantly

From HealthandGoodness.com -- "Many of us are bowed down by life - stressed, short of time, tired, on a treadmill, knowing that this isn't the way to live, but not knowing how to free ourselves up to live more fully, more abundantly. There are simple things we can do - they don't take time or money - they take a change of ATTITUDE."

Here are the 9 steps, and at the bottom of the post, there is a link to the entire article, which explains each step more specifically. It's a great article, and I hope you read it in it's entirety:

1. Being totally financially honest.
2. Creating a vacuum so that more good things can flow into it - don't fill your life up with things you don't really want.
3. Tithing is often associated with religion, but it is also possible to tithe in a non-religious context. This seems a really important aspect of living abundantly - every time you freely give money away, you are implying that you are confident that more will come - this is a BIG positive affirmation with a lot of power behind it.
4. Being grateful for what you already have and focusing on the good that is already in your life.
5. Resentment, jealousy, envy and self-pity interfere with the free-flow of abundance.
6. Forgiving those that have wronged you is part of living abundantly.
7. Being able to receive from other people.
8. Realize that in general 'good luck' plays a very small part in people's life.
9. Believing that there is enough money, food, love, etc. in the world to meet everyone's needs to live abundantly.

For complete details on all nine steps, visit HealthandGoodness.com.

Good luck and make it a great day!

Do One Nice Thing a Week

I found a website that has hit upon a novel idea. It encourages it's members to do one nice thing a week. The site is called DoOneNiceThing.com. I think it's better to set a goal to do one nice thing a day, but a week is a great start. The site features one nice person a week. This past week, they featured Kathy Kusner. Here is Kathy's story:

"Kathy Kusner is a pioneer. A champion equestrian and Olympic medalist, she was also the first licensed female jockey in the U.S. In 1999 she set her sights on a different hurdle: inner-city violence in Watts, South Central Los Angeles. She wanted to give children a respite from it, so she founded Horses in the Hood, a nonprofit organization that provides amazing one-week horse camp experiences.

The camp's mission is to introduce children to the joy of riding and caring for horses. Kids get to spend a week at the idyllic camp near the Pacific Ocean. For some, the bus ride to camp is the first time they've ever seen the ocean, although it's just a few miles from their homes. Over the course of the week, the children also improve their communication skills and develop a sense of responsibility, both necessary for good horsemanship. And it's fun!"

To read about other people they have featured, go to DoOneNiceThing.com.

Also, as a follow up to my suggestion earlier in this post about doing one nice thing a day. Here are some simple suggestions to help get you started:

• Say hello to someone at work you normally don't even speak to. You'll be amazed at their response, and it'll make you feel better inside as well.
• Call a relative or friend that you haven't spoken to in a long time.
• Donate old clothes to the Salvation Army.
• Hold the door open for someone today.
• Smile at people when you walk by them.

The above are just simple suggestions that can make a big difference in someone's life. You never know what is going on in a person's head. A simple smile might be all they need to change their attitude right then and there.

If you want to feel better yourself, then do something to help somebody else!

Make it a great day!

He's Now Officially a Millionaire

From WashingtonPost.com -- You may remember my post from Friday, December 30, 2005 about Alex Tew, the college student who had an idea for a website that had already generated over $900,000 worth of advertising at the time of my post. Well, according to this article on WashingtonPost.com today, he has now surpassed the 1 million dollar mark already!

In less than five months, he went from broke to a millionaire!

From the article: "At exactly 1:42:28 p.m. EST today, Tew can post a "sold out" sign on the Million Dollar Homepage. (You can see it at http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/.) The spiky-haired Brit put the last thousand pixels up for auction on eBay 10 days ago with a $1 starting bid for the lot. With 24 hours to go, yesterday's bidding reached $152,300, putting him over the million-dollar mark."

"The phenomenon he created has been hailed by some as a genre-changing concept in online marketing -- otherwise an advertising badlands of spam, banner ads and pop-ups. Others say it's a brilliant, one-time marketing aberration that will never be replicated."

Either way, it was a brilliant idea! As the article says, "Why didn't I think of that?" The good news is...there are a million other million dollar ideas out there. Get out and find yours!

Make it a great day!

7 Ways to Improve Your Relationship

One of the best ways to improve your life and live a more positive life is to enjoy wonderful relationships with friends, family and spouses. I found an interesting article today that shares 7 ways to improve your relationship. The article is by Margaret Paul, Ph.D. and she offers some interesting steps that everyone should consider. Here are the seven ways, and at the bottom of this post, you can click to view the entire article:

1. Take Responsibility for Yourself - This is the most important choice you can make to improve your relationship. This means that you learn how to take responsibility for your own feelings and needs.
2. Kindness, Compassion & Acceptance - Treat others the way you want to be treated. This is the essence of a truly spiritual life. We all yearn to be treated lovingly – with kindness, compassion, understanding, and acceptance. We need to treat ourselves this way, and we need to treat our partner and others this way. Relationships flourish when both people treat each other with kindness.
3. Learning Instead of Controlling - When conflict occurs, you always have two choices regarding how to handle the conflict: you can be open to learning about yourself and your partner and discover the deeper issues of the conflict, or you can try to win, or at least not lose, through some form of controlling behavior.
4. Create Date Times - When people first fall in love, they make time for each other. Then, especially after getting married, they get busy. Relationships need time to thrive. It is vitally important to set aside specific times to be together – to talk, play, make love. Intimacy cannot be maintained without time together.
5. Gratitude Instead of Complaints - Positive energy flows between two people when there is an “attitude of gratitude.” Constant complaints creates a heavy, negative energy, which is not fun to be around. Practice being grateful for what you have rather than focusing on what you don’t have.
6. Fun and Play - We all know that “work without play makes Jack a dull boy.” Work without play makes for dull relationships as well. Relationships flourish when people laugh together, play together, and when humor is a part of everyday life.
7. Service - A wonderful way of creating intimacy is to do service projects together. Giving to others fills the heart and creates deep satisfaction in the soul. Doing service moves you out of yourself and your own problems and supports a broader, more spiritual view of life.

Click here to read more about the 7 steps listed above.

Good luck and make it a great day!

Ethiopian Idols Offers Hope Amid Poverty

From JournalNow.com -- In America, we have Simon Cowell... In Ethiopia, they have Feleke Hailu. He may not be as bad as Simon of American Idol fame, but he does offer a refreshing and entertaining perspective on Ethiopia's most popular television show, "Ethiopian Idols".

"While 'Ethiopian Idols' cannot promise the riches or fame enjoyed by American and British winners, it does offer hope in an impoverished country where most of the 77 million people cannot afford a TV set. Yellowed satin sheets and signs taped to the walls provide the backdrop for a set hastily constructed each week in a shabby hotel restaurant while waiters peer in. Performers have to contend with frequent power cuts, feedback from poor sound equipment and ringing cell phones."

It's nice to see that even in a country as poor as Ethiopia, they still have outlets like this show to help them escape the brutality of everyday life.

To read the complete article, go to JournalNow.com.

Make it a great day!

Need Inspiration? Read About Team Hoyt

I was watching TV today, and there was a promotional advertisement for Bryant Gumbel's Real Sports on HBO. Some of the stories he mentioned sounded interesting, so I went to HBO.com to check out what they were working on. One story caught my eye and after reading it, I think it is a perfect story to share with you.

They did a segment on a father-son marathon team called Team Hoyt. Team Hoyt consists of Rick and Dick Hoyt. Dick is the father and Rick is the son. They just completed their 24th Boston Marathon this year. Why is this so special? Because Rick can't walk or talk. During marathons, Dick pushes Rick in a special wheelchair. It's even more amazing because they usually finish in the top quarter of participants. Dick has even had a heart attack, but because of the tremendous physical shape he is in, they competed in a triathlon just weeks after having three stints put into Dick's heart.

They have also been competing in triathlons for years. During these stressful events, Dick pushes Rick in the wheelchair for the running portion, he pulls him in a special boat that is tied to his waist for the swimming portion, and during the biking stage, Rick sits on the front of the bike. Amazing to say the least!

Their story is truly amazing and shows that anything is possible once you put your heart and soul into it. To read about Team Hoyt, go to TeamHoyt.com.

Make it a great day!

Make the Leap to the Work You Love

From MSN.com -- "If you had it do to all over again, would you choose the career you're in now?

If not, you're certainly not alone. According to one Wall Street Journal/ABC News poll, half of all American workers would opt for a different career if they had a second chance.

Why? “A lot of it comes down to one simple word -- independence,” says Charles Fitzpatrick, director of the Small Business Development Center and The Center for Entrepreneurial Activities at Central Michigan University.

“Most people know they will never reach their full potential while working under someone else or in a job that doesn't feed their passions.”

Of course, most folks just daydream about that road not taken. Or they have vague plans of pursuing their real passions after they retire.

But increasing numbers of young and youngish professionals are taking that second chance -- long before their 50th birthdays.

It takes guts, confidence and ability to toss away the security blanket of a good job and start all over again at something new. It also takes planning. Meet three people who took the plunge."

To find out how these three people did it, visit MSN.com.

Make it a great day!

J. Anthony

Children of the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's

Like everyone, I receive a lot of emails forwarded to me on a daily basis. Most are deleted immediately, but today, I received an email that took me back to my childhood. I'd like to share it here. If you were born in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's, you can definitely relate, and I hope it brings a smile to your face while you reminisce about the days of old...

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good, and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Keep Your New Year's Resolution to Lose Weight

If you were like most Americans, on January 1st, you made some New Year's Resolutions. One of them probably was to either lose weight or start working out more. So, how are you doing now on the 5th of January? Are you still working on it, or have you already "fallen off the wagon" and given up? I hope you haven't and are still doing it, but for those of you who have, this article from MSN Fitness might be the jolt you need to get back on track.

Scott Quill from Men's Health magazine offers up a five-week program to help you rebuild your body. Some key points from his program are:

1. Adopt a 3-day Standard - In a recent survey, the National Center for Health Statistics found that only 19 percent of Americans do three or more intense workouts a week. Given these hard numbers, it's unrealistic to expect that you'll suddenly start exercising for six or seven days straight. Fortunately, that level of commitment isn't necessary. "You'll see most of the benefits of exercise by working out hard just three times a week," says Mejia. "And that's especially true if you're out of shape." Use these strategies to make sure you stick to the plan.
2. Go Hard, Not Long - Cap your exercise sessions at 30 minutes. YMCA researchers found that men were twice as likely to stick to an exercise program when they did shorter workouts—30 minutes or less—as when they did longer sessions. "They also gained more muscle and lost more fat, because they worked at a higher intensity, instead of just going through the motions of a long workout," says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., coauthor of the study.
3. Keep it Simple - Forget about target heart rates and three-digit lifting tempos. "Working out isn't rocket science," says Mejia. "You just need to challenge your body a little bit more each session."

For details about each step, visit MSN's Health Channel.

Follow Scott's steps and in no time, you'll not only be honoring your New Year's Resolution, but you'll be looking and feeling great.

Good Luck and make it a great day!

Cat Okay After Traveling 70 Miles Under SUV

From Happynews.com -- Curiosity didn't kill one cat on a wild ride on the New Jersey Turnpike. The kitten, now known, for obvious reasons, as Miracle, hitchhiked a ride on the underbelly of a sport utility vehicle just before Christmas. The gray and white feline traveled some 70 miles under the vehicle as it whizzed along the Turnpike on Dec. 23.

"I'm just amazed that the cat didn't fall off or get blown off," Karen Dixon-Aquino, director of the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for Tuesday's newspapers.

Talk about one lucky kitten. To read more about this lucky kitten's amazing journey, go to Happynews.com.

Miracle in the Wilderness

If you doubt there are angels out there looking over us, this story from the San Francisco Chronicle just might change your mind.

From SFGate.com -- "Every day is a good day for Amy Racina. It wasn't always that way, but crashing 60 feet into a granite ravine changed her perspective.

Racina of Healdsburg, a seasoned backpacker, was on a solo trip two years ago in the Tehipite Valley, a seldom-visited area of Kings Canyon National Park, which is in the southern end of the Sierra Nevada directly east of Fresno. She was 12 days into a 162-mile trip when she lost the trail she was on. As she carefully crisscrossed down the valley looking for the trail, the ground suddenly gave way and she found herself careering through the air."

"So this is how it ends," she thought in the seconds before she slammed into a granite ravine.

The fall nearly killed Racina, but the miracle -- the first of many -- was that it didn't.

Racina has published a book recounting her rescue and arduous recovery. "Angels in the Wilderness" ($24.95, Elite Books in Santa Rosa), is titled for the three hikers who saved her life after they came upon her even though she had been off-trail when she fell in a remote area visited only by a handful of people each season."

This is truly a remarkable story to read. It definitely made me re-think the challenges I am faced with on a daily basis. I hope it's an inspiration to you as well. To read the complete story, go to SFGate.com.

Make it a great day!

J. Anthony.

2006 Economy Looks Solid

From USAToday.com -- January 2, 2006 -- "A fifth straight year of economic expansion in 2006 promises to mean new jobs, higher pay, and maybe even fatter investment portfolios for millions of Americans."

Some of the articles main points:

• Rising pay. Disposable incomes will rise by 3.2%, after inflation, more than double this year's gain.
• Healthy profits. Corporate earnings will grow 7.9%, but that's less than half the pace of 2005. That mixed picture, coupled with rising interest rates, has left Wall Street debating whether next year's stock market will head up or down.
• A strong job market. Unemployment to remain level at 5%. While job creation is not forecast in the Blue Chip survey, some experts call for job growth to reach 2 million for the year, higher than 2005 and much stronger than the early years of the current economic expansion.

It's always nice to start the year off with a good forecast. To read the complete article, go to USAToday.com.

Make it a great day!

Happy New Year!

Make 2006 your best year ever! Keep a positive attitude no matter what life throws at you. If you need a little inspiration, keep us in mind. Positive Pelham is here to serve up a daily dose of positive and inspiring news to remind you that "Things Really Aren't All That Bad..."

Make it a great day and year!

J. Anthony