Money Thoughts

There’s a cool website that has printable award certificates for all kinds of events. This site can be found at www.CertificateTemplate.org.

Baptism certificates, school certificates, soccer certificates, bowling certificates, chess certificates, music certificates, drama certificates, ice skating certificates, hula certificates, birthday certificates, best friends certificates, best brother certificates, best sister certificates, no cavity certificates, and a whole lot more!

All of these are customizable and printable! Check it out!

Did you know that you could actually be healed from many different ailments just by getting needles stuck in you? Most people have heard of Acupuncture, but never experienced it or just plain do not believe in it. The fact is, there is actual scientific proof that Acupuncture therapy works and it can be explained on a scientific level.

Ryodoraku Textbook by Hirohisa Oda

So you’re probably asking, “What the heck is Ryodoraku?”

Well, as I understand it, it’s a technique used in acupuncture to diagnose and treat ailments using a battery operated machine. Apparently, this little machine is a meter that measures the current flow in your body. If the voltage current drops while you scan your body in certain areas, that means you have a located a place where an acupuncture needle should be applied. Also, the Acupuncture needle that is applied gets hooked up to a low voltage machine that sends electricity into the area where the needle was stuck into you.

When electricity flows down the needle, a very small/minor amount of damage occurs to the cells surrounding the needle. The interesting thing that happens with this technique, is that the body’s central nervous system receives a signal that major damage has just occurred and the body naturally takes a course to heal itself, thereby causing healing to take place overall. It’s supposedly more effective and faster in showing results than the traditional Acupuncture without electric current.

Sound crazy? Perhaps. This type of Therapy is used worldwide and is pretty neat stuff to look into. Of course, only licensed and properly TRAINED practitioners should use this type of Acupuncture treatment.

There is a textbook that I just helped finish convert to PDF format that can now be purchased at Ryodorakubook.com. This book was written by Dr. Hirohisa Oda and is no longer in print. People have searched for it in the past, but it was VERY difficult to find, so now, it is being offered for direct download. This book could be found in the past for $45 or more, and 1 possible dealer has it for $75! The site has it for only $24.95, which is an amazing savings for all who are interested in Ryodoraku.

If you are interested in learning more about Ryodoraku, visit the website at http://www.ryodorakubook.com.

Related Websites

• Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Schools | OLACR
• Acupuncture – an Effective Depression Remedy? | about depression
• Cosmetic Acupuncture is Effective | Health Remedies and Medical …
• Can Acupuncture Help Control Menopause Symptoms | menopausetest.org
• Alternative Medicine: The Other Choice | BusinessVn Health Tips
• Study Finds Abused Children Likely To Suffer Gastrointestinal …
• Variety of Herbal Medicines Available to Treat Ailments | Natural …
• Sickly Brits will suffer from 6284 lifetime ailments | inCapitalHealth
• Articles highlight challenges, progress in nervous system cancers …
• HP Invents a Central Nervous System for the Earth | Inhabitat

This is the theme that has been emanating for me the last few weeks. For some reason, the messages that have been preached to me by various pastors and Christian friends have been all about knowing what God’s will is and that we are to pray that above all my requests, I need to remember to let God’s will come first.

Today, I know why this message has been given to me so strongly. I lost a dear friend tonight, a friend whom I loved like a brother. Great joy and sadness encompass me as I reminisce about the childhood days of playing countless hours of basketball with him and the “gang”. We all mourn tonight, but remembering that God’s will is to be asked for first has a way of “lightening” much of the pain.
God’s love is real, his power is real, HE is real. Although I prayed and prayed for healing to take place for my friend, in the end, God’s will is done and I am left to remember that God is still faithful and he heard my prayers, but my request was not as important as what God needed to do to show his love for all.
New Year’s Eve, God gave me a miracle and allowed me to have a chance to spend a little time with him. By his grace I got to pray over him and celebrate with him one more time. This past miracle sits deep in my heart with me. When I begin to wonder to myself why he chose not heal him this time when I had prayed for him and believed he would be healed completely and quickly.
The fact that I had the last day of 2009 with him, was a day that I know God put together specifically for me.
It may not seem like much to anyone else, but the circumstances that allowed me to be there could have only been accomplished with God being there for me and controlling the events of every little circumstance.
The passing of my friend has taught me one of the greatest lessons of my life.
Never pass up an opportunity to share Jesus with someone. Life is too short. I KNOW the truth and I had an opportunity to share it.
God’s will be done…

If you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus, you need to know 2 things:
1. Jesus loves you and he is waiting for you with open arms.
2. All you need to do is say that you believe Jesus was the son of God, and that he died for you. Then ask Jesus into your heart and believe in him.

By knowing #1 and doing #2, you are now under God’s blessings and you have solidified your place in heaven.

God Bless You!

There are definitely simple things in life that can really make you feel good. There’s nothing like have a happy dog greet you at the door after a long days work…

Yeah, I know. I posted this same video 2 years ago. For me personally, it just never gets old.

If you have kids and want to teach them to handle money, here’s a cool site to check out. This play money makingsite allows you to download a word document money template and change stuff around in a breeze. All in all, pretty cool stuff!

I have always been a sucker for buying e-books and “guru” course stuff online. These things are pretty expensive and most of the time well worth it. Lately, it seems that retaining customers who are potential buyers has taken on an interesting life of its own. I’ve found that when browsing, there are many sites that will offer huge discounts if you try to leave and are willing to put up with a pop-up. Now there are other discount sites for regular retail stuff like online coupon websiteswhich offer ways to save money through entering in their links, but for e-books and downloadable software, here’s a cool trick worth trying before making your next purchase.

1. If you are interested in buying the product, see if there is a “Trial” version available first and sign up to try it. Sometimes you’ll get an email offering you a discount once you become a “Trial” user.

2. Try clicking off the website to close the tab or change the URL website address to see if you can trigger a “Wait, Don’t Go” window that begs for your business by offering a discount as well.

3. If they have a sign-up place for their newsletter or some kind of free subscription, do it. Many times they’ll throw buying incentives (discounts) your way in the newsletters.

4. Do a google search for the product to see if others talk of a discount being offered.

Recently, I’ve been able to save over $100 on various products that I was willing to buy at full price. These savings have allowed me to buy more tools for a lot less. The internet has made things more affordable than ever due to the fact that no one needs to produce inventory. This means they (the seller) can cut costs and take a little less for their product rather than getting nothing at all.

I love technology!

I spent the Halloween weekend hanging out with my mom who was is visiting from Hawaii. We drove for 6 hours to San Jose to visit my uncle (my mom’s brother) to celebrate his 60th birthday. Along the way, my mother talked about her new Kindle she got as a “Thank You” gift from some relatives and almost sounded  a little Techy about it as she described all the cool things this new toy of hers could do.


While my mom and uncle spent a lot of time talking and catching up, I sat on the couch for hours amazed at the fact that the Kindle had all the following cool features:

1. It was hooked up wirelessly to the cell phone 3g network FOR FREE and could access the Amazon database anywhere there was a 3g signal.
2. I could browse endless books on subjects I wanted to know about. Many of the books allowed me to “sample” them by giving the first pages or chapters free.
3. The screen is amazingly clear, and the memory (although not upgradable) was enough to hold over 1000 books.
4. It could play mp3′s while you read to block out outside noise, and could also read the text right off the screen. (i didn’t test these features, but saw where the menu allowed you to select them.
5. If I wanted a book, I could download them instantly at the click of a button.

These were just a few of the “cool” features I found in the Kindle. My sister (who is a HUGE fan of the Kindle) mentioned a lot of other features as well and explained how some of the “competitor” lines like the Sony and off-brand e-books could not compare.

I visited a Sony outlet store in Gilroy on our way home just to do a little research myself  and found the staff at the store I went to clueless about the device when it came to understanding the difference between their unit vs. the Kindle. They gave me a lot of “I think it does this, and I think it does that…” which I hate. I’d rather a salesperson tell me they DON”T KNOW and call someone who does know instead of letting me think it does something it may not.

I saw that Barnes and Nobles is coming out with their own e-book called the “Nook”. Haven’t had a chance to look at one physically, but I’m curious to try them side by side and then leap in  to get an e-book that I can feel confident has all the latest features and that I will use. I have a ton of books and like to write in them and take notes, but see the benefits of having a digital e-book so I can carry all my reference books around in one place.

The only I real downfall I found so far is the lack of backlighting on the Kindle. For the most part, the screen is so clear, back lighting was not necessary since I was testing it in places where if it was hard to read, it would’ve been hard to read a regular paper book as well. Amazon has affordable accessories to offset this issue like the following book lamp:


I’ve been told that the battery lasts a VERY long time on the Kindle, especially if you do not leave the 3g wireless card on. It can last almost a week under normal use when not connecting to the wireless. The main reason for this battery longevity seems to be because its using such a simple LCD monochrome (colorless) screen and no back light battery consumption is taking place. So there is definitely something to be said about have a separate light that has it’s own battery. If you are ever without your charger, not having a light feature can be beneficial indeed to keep you battery lasting longer. I am sure the complaints for Amazon’s Kindle designers would all be concentrated around battery life had they installed a back light feature from the start.

These past few weeks have opened my eyes to how much educating yourself today can payoff in great sums later. I accepted a position at a company that had the potential for large income rewards for a field which I studied 3 years ago and had specialized knowledge in. As the the days progressed, there were some lies that were being told to make sales and legal issues I could see happening down the road. I asked to be released from the company and explained the illegal activity I observed that put my licenses in jeopardy, but more importantly, my reputation as a man of integrity. They released me without an issue, and allowed me to shred my personal file so there was no evidence I was there.
The next day, I went to a non-profit organization to see if I could volunteer some time there. My wife already volunteers once a week, so I went along to work on their computers. I saw the founders there and they asked about anything I knew on how to optimize their website. Being that I have been trying to study all I can about internet marketing, I was able to help with a lot of information which could help improve their visibility and page ranking. Being that this organization is fighting against human trafficking, it felt really good to be able to add some knowledge to help their cause. In the end, they offered to pay me for my time and work on getting their improvements implemented. I am glad to volunteer my time to help, but they know the time they will be asking of me could be extensive. I am still not sure if I will accept payment knowing that every penny I accept as a payment could go to help rescue another child from human traffickers.
Lately in my spare time, I have been getting my wife up to speed in Internet SEO. She’s built a site that provides free kids bible worksheets for churches who have Sunday school teachers looking for cost effective material. Her website is at www.kidsbibleworksheets.com. If you need some additional worksheets for your Sunday school lessons, download as many sheets as you wish.

It’s been 7 months since leaving my “stable” job and trying to venture into making a new way of living as an entreprenuer. Over the last 7 months, I’ve learned so much about myself it’s amazing. This was a time of growth and will continue to be a struggle even though I’ve just acquired a position at a company and a salary of only $375 per week plus bonuses for bringing in business that will kick in a little later. The bonus income is what will be feeding us if the position pans out and I can do what is necessary to build the company’s business.

So why take such a risk that may not pan out and end us up in bankruptcy? Mainly it’s because of the education I will be able to gain by “directly” working with a very successful and young entrepreneur.

If you’ve been or are currently unemployed, keep looking and take this time to educate yourself on something. The internet has a ton of free resources to learn a skill that could be useful somewhere. Look on YouTube for a passion or hobby you like and see if others have found a way to capitalize on it. Build a website and ad google adsense to earn a little income on something you love talking about. There is so much out there for you, you just have to look and be creative about it.

“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits…” – Thomas Edison

I’ve built a new website to help people find free play money templates. If you would like to teach your kids to handle money better, a good place to start is at www.KidsMoneyFarm.com. Kid’s Money farm is a site that has free downloadable  and printable play money templates and will soon begin to add FREE education lessons to teach kids how to handle money.

Parents hold the most influential tool to teachings kids about money. Children learn from example. How parents spend their money in front them, is how children will make their understanding about money. Be sure to use words and phrases that add positive thoughts about money. Stay away from making money (or lack of money) a burden, or you children will subconsciously think money is a bad thing and they will begin to self-sabotage themselves as adults. Anthony Robbins, one of the greatest motivational speakers of our time, spends a lot of time in his teachings about what he calls “limiting beliefs”. If your kids hear you saying “can’t afford it” or “it’s too expensive for people like us”, then they will forever think they can’t afford much and not expand their thoughts to achieving more. It’s better to say something like, “We are here to purchase only things we NEED right now. If we want to purchase something just because we want it, we should make a plan for it when we get home.” This will help to give them an understanding that “want” items should be thought out and planned for and begin to save them from impulse buying problems.

Here’s an easy exercise to start playing with your kids.

1. Next time they ask for something in the store, tell them that if they want it, they need to find a way to earn it. Explain to them that you are shopping for a specific reason, like just to buy food to eat etc. Stay away from saying things like “it cost too much”. Instead ask them why they think they should deserve it, and how do they plan to work at getting it. (the key to this exercise is not to argue when they give you reasons they “think” they deserve  it. The key is to open up conversation as to how they can start earning their way to things and goal set.) Creativity and a sense of humor is necessary to keep from getting frustrated. Kids will do their best to wear you down, so keep the conversation going by asking them questions. Explain that you went to work today to earn income for the shopping you are doing. Can they think of ways that they can earn income so that they can buy things that they want?
2. Give them a pad and paper before going into the store and tell them that if they find something they want, they can write it down and when you get home you can find ways for them to earn it. Be sure they write down what it is they want, why they want it, why they deserve it, how much it costs, and what ideas they have on what they can do to earn it.
3. Teach them how the store makes money. They buy it for a cheaper cost (wholesale), then they sell it for more (retail). Along the way they need to make sure that everything they sell covers the cost of all their overhead.
4. Bring fake play money with you. You can get them free from www.kidsmoneyfarm.com and print them out. As you shop with your children, tell them you have set a budget to spend only $150 on groceries today and as you shop add up the cost and have them start pulling the play money aside as you pick up items so they can visually see the affect the choices they make while shopping affects your money supply. This is good for older children who have math skills that need to be sharpened.

The simple lessons above are ways to start changing the way they think about “wanting and whining” for something. Stand firm and explain that whining is not going to help their situation. If you give in once, they will see their whining as a way to get things and it will be harder to stop them from doing it in the future. Let them know that handling money should be a process that uses some thought, not just impulse. Do your best to make it fun. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment so others may be blessed from your experiences.

Three years ago I became very active in trying to build a financial services business. I got my life insurance license (again) and began to help clients move money into safer tools to protect their investments. At the time, the stock market was booming again and people had quickly forgotten what happen just 5-6 years prior when the dot-com bust happened. I saw my mom lose over 30% of her retirement portfolio back then. She had an advisor that promised her things he never should’ve done and kept in her too many risky mutual funds. Back then, I knew better, but let her advisor do his thing without saying a word. I am still upset at myself till this day. She lost tens of thousands of dollars. Greatest thing is that I knew 3 years ago it was going to happen again and this time I took control and she hasn’t lost a penny since. Her gains have been modest, and compared to where she would’ve been if she left it with her old advisor, she is WAY ahead of the game.
A year after getting in to build my financial business, events took place within the family that really shook us up. I felt that a stable job was the place to go so we could help those in need through a rough time. The shake up made the family stronger and things have gotten back on track. Looking back, I thought I was doing the right thing. Making sacrifices and focusing on stability was to me, the right thing to do to get through it all.
A nagging feeling haunts me today. What if I continued to build the financial business and had not used the excuse of “helping out” because I was afraid I could fail? I had done so well in the beginning and loved what I did. I felt God had led me into it and it was exciting. I was helping people, and protecting them and now that 2 years have past, there are so many that have lost so much that I may have been able to protect. In some instances, I hear the losses have been over $100k many times more. Once again, I stepped away and kept my mouth shut even when I knew better. It was my mom’s situation all over again, but this time it was friends and acquaintances.
So I have decided to get back in the Game again and I am excited to see that there are so many changes for the better with protecting clients assets! The losses of the past are still here and REAL! I can’t bring back those losses for so many, but at least I can now direct them to safer pastures with returns that will stick and show them that it is time to take control of their money and start educating themselves. For many, its late in the game. The 4th quarter has arrived and its all or nothing. Desperation will open their minds better than before to understanding that they need to educated themselves and take a little risk.

As odd as this may sound, I know God was telling me to stick it out 2 years ago. It didn’t feel right going back to a job. Where I should be today is not where I am at. I am 2 years behind playing catch-up, but this time I am listening to every whisper God is telling me.

What is God telling you? Are you listening? I am!

FAITH AND ENDURANCE
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
James 1:2-4

Keep an eye on 2 new websites that I recently started work on. http://www.makeyourchurchwebsite.com and http://www.miyamotocreations.com.
As time goes on, the website for churches to make their own websites will be built to help offer tutorials on how to use Ewisoft and also how great it is to host with Bluehost.

In the mean time, I am going with stuff I love. Working back in the financial field selling insurance and educating my clients on how to protect their retirement portfolios.

Some think I am crazy, but it’s already been a blast!

Wow! It’s been a while since my last post. We’ve been so busy preparing for our Thailand mission trip to Zoe International Ministries’ Children’s home.

I can’t really explain what we experienced, but I put up a video page of all our activities and videos on our church website.

My sister told me about these things called the Amazon Kindle 2. If you get a chance, you should check it out. I really wish I had one of these on the long 23 hours of one way travel time to Thailand!
It would have really helped a lot to pass the time.

I’ve just realized I’ve been SO wrong. I once heard what I thought was one of the GREATEST sayings ever, “First Deserve, Then Desire”. After hearing that, I truly believed that before you should desire anything, you should first believe that you deserve it. It became a motto of mine that I used to teach others. When I was in control of peoples raises, I would use this phrase often to explain my position on who did or did not get raises. It was a motto of mine to get my employees to work harder, and it worked. By explaining that raises were given on what skills you had and their importance to the team, they knew they had to continuously be learning new things and getting faster at their jobs, or their worth would not increase and they would not get a raise. It worked very well in part because I was willing to teach them if they were really interested in gaining more knowledge. My common sense justification was, “Why should I give anyone a raise year after year if they were not getting more productive year after year?” That is where, “First Deserve, Then Desire.” came to be what was expected.

Recently though, something has changed…I still believe in the saying, but only partially. I heard the other week that the word “Desire” comes from the root definition meaning “of the father”, or in other words, God. If desire is truly given to us by God to motivate us, then to desire is good. It’s what we should be looking into ourselves for. I believe that each of us are driven by our desires, and the stronger our desires, the stronger our motivation to acquire our desires will become. In some cases, it’s called “Vision”, in others it becomes their purpose. Whatever the reason we have them, it’s what makes the human race develop.

What are your deepest desires? I suggest spending a little time today and write down ALL of your desires. Circle the top five desires and make a decision to focus on how you can achieve them. Most of my desires seem outrageous, even to me. But if I believe that God is all knowing and all powerful and that he gave me those desires, then I believe he also gave me the ability to acquire what I desire. I’ve seen truly unbelievable miracles happen in my life when I’ve focused on getting something in the past. It’s time to get myself in gear and go after the REALLY big desires of my life… Having desires that will help others live better lives, gives my life purpose. But here’s the coolest thing…if i strive to do great things that will help others live better lives and have less suffering, it doesn’t hurt anyone if I fail. All it can really do is make me wiser. I can’t “really” fail unless I die and can’t try again. As long as I am capable, I haven’t failed yet. A setback will only make the “next time” easier.

The big debate in our household has become, “How much risk should be taken?”. We are about to take on an adventure and it may be costly. The payoff could be huge, but it could also fail.

My position is: If we never take a big risk, we may never know what could have been. King David if the Bible (as a boy) ran out into the middle of a battle field with nothing more that 5 stones and a sling to fight a giant. He came back with the giants head. No one ever got ahead by leaps and bounds by playing it safe.

My wife’s position is: we took risks, we were very successful, but then we took more risks and it has drained us. No more risks…

We both live with the belief that God will always provide for us, no matter what, as long as we worship him, are doing his work, and being faithful in our giving of our money and our time. Lately though, times have gotten a little tougher for us.

I believe it’s to prepare us and educate us for what is to come. God will ALWAYS protect you with giving you knowledge so you can use wisdom when challenges come up. The thing is, in order to gain knowledge, you need to be taught. Most of our lessons in life are given to us through experiences. So sometimes the lessons are tough, which then means you will learn better and be better prepared.

So, we are moving ahead with our “risky” adventure. It could be a huge drain on what little savings we have left, and spiral us into a really rough time of hardship… and then what.

My feeling is, “So what? Let’s go for it!”. If we fail, we fail trying. I will never, ever be ashamed of saying we tried and we failed in that adventure. In the end we will have learned so much, that the chance of failing the second time around will get slimmer. The big question for me is…”What if we succeed?!?”.

We will never know if we can do it unless we try…When you were learning to walk, how many times did you fall down? Did you quit? Remember that every time you take a step. You failed a lot in the beginning to be able to walk…So why did you keep trying? Was it really a risk to take that first step, or was it the process that you needed to go through?

Can anyone truly be successful without taking those first few steps and falling down a few times? So why are you not trying?

Last winter, while sitting on the couch on a typically cold morning, I had an idea… An idea I thought could be worth millions…

This week, I’ve seen my idea being marketed all over the internet and even on infomercials! I told a few friends and co-workers about this idea and we saw a few versions of it made on the internet. When we saw it, I could not understand why it wasn’t being sold in stores and mass marketed, it really was a great idea!

Well…I guess the idea was good…really good!

I know marketing has 90% to do with how a product does. I knew my idea was good, and found out someone was already selling it, but not marketing it. Now, it’s being marketed well and millions are being made by someone other than me.

Do you have an idea? Wonder why it’s not in the mass market for everyone to buy? Maybe the product is just waiting for the right person to take advantage of an opportunity…

Think, research, act…

A simple but effective formula for the million dollar idea. All 3 parts are needed, but few ever do them completely which inevitably leads to failure.

I won’t let that happen again. Will you?

I read today that there is a guy in Europe saying that the UK’s pound could collapse with the deficit swelling. Apparently, he must be a respected individual with so many news presses printing the story. In my opinion, there really isn’t much difference with the currency issues the UK is having and compared to the US issues. Both countries are scrambling to do anything possible to prevent a major economic disaster (which is like trying to stop the Mississippi River with just your bare hands. The problem is just too big. The US Dollar is in a crisis possibly worse than the pound. It’s strength is consistently loosing it’s value, and the more we borrow or stimulate, the worse it will become.

Maybe someone can help answer this question for me regarding bailing out the auto industry. I realize that nearly 2 million people will lose their jobs if GM were to shut down and it would cause major problems everywhere. I agree that something should be done, if it makes sense. How does helping GM continue to make cars help if our economy is so bad that no one buys the cars that we help GM to continue to make? The simple laws of supply and demand will inevitably show itself real and either they will have to give the cars away free, or go bankrupt anyway with millions of cars in back stock.

I watched a great movie this week called “Facing the Giants“. It’s a movie about a high school football coach and everything around him is falling apart. He has a losing team with a bad attitude, he’s about to lose his job, he can’t get his wife pregnant (yes, it’s his fault), his car keeps breaking down, something in his house smells and he can’t find where it’s coming from, and he is making just enough to survive. With an change in perspective of what he is meant to do with his life, things turn around for him and he begins to have a HUGE affect on the people around him. Basically…my kind of uplifting movie.

Typically, I like the hardcore sci-fi stuff like The Matrix or Star Wars, but this was a movie that I really liked and it had no sci-fi special effects.

Some of the lessons it taught were great lessons on life in general. If you want a good movie to get you smiling in the beginning of the week, “Facing the Giants” is a good one to get.

So last night we voted in a new President of the United States. I myself was a McCain supporter from the beginning, but I am not as disappointed as I am eager to see if Obama holds to his promises and is as good as all those who voted for him think he will be. McCain went down in style, saying we are in a country where we can have a say as to who we want to lead us and we got a chance to do just that. Not only am proud to be an American, but I am also very grateful for rights and freedoms we have. My man didn’t win…so what. The majority wanted Obama, and we peacefully got a majorities choice into the White House. I hope I am wrong in thinking Obama’s policies could be hurtful in the future. Millions of others think his policies could be helpful, which is why I hope they voted for him. I didn’t think all of McCain’s policies would be great answers to our countries problems either, I just thought they were a little better than Obama’s.

So now, my personal belief is that all of us need to hope and pray that our new President moves quick to keep his promises, and that his “ideas” work for the better of our country. All our past President’s did what they thought was best for the country with what they could control. Some did a lot better than others. Even George Bush made decisions based on what he thought was best for our country. He’s human and he made mistakes. He is surrounded with smart advisors, and yet things didn’t work out as well as he wanted toward the end of his term. Hopefully Mr. Obama makes a lot less mistakes and things do make a difference for the better.

To Mr. Obama I’d like to say “Congratulations”. You put up a great campaign with a lot of promises for change. I am praying that your promises can be kept and that they end up being “right” for our country. I pray that you are wise in your decisions and that your cabinet truly serve the interest of the American people. I pray you have the strength to fight hard against the economic turmoil that has already begun to hurt so many Americans, and perservere. I pray you prove me wrong in thinking that McCain’s policies were better than your own for the good of everyone who lives with us in this great country.  You will undoubtedly make mistakes, you’re human. So I pray that if mistakes that are made, they are learned from and make better results for decisions made thereafter. You were not my pick at the poll yesterday, but it doesn’t mean I do not support you now that you have won. You have my full support as my new President and I am in your corner praying for the change you promised to turn our country around and that it can, in turn, help the rest or the world get back on track. You’ve taken a path to accept more burdens than anyone should have to handle. God Bless you, and good luck!

I came across this video on GodTube.com. I thought it was a great message for anyone who feel as though they have obstacles too big to overcome.

This weeks stock market has been crazy. If you have money in stocks, be warned. Know what companies you have your money in, and start studying their future goals and how they are adjusting to the economy changing. If they are not doing anything to prepare for the future, get out. Quickly…

Recently I went looking to see the current 100 ounce bars of silver were selling for by our top dealers. I came across a discovery that all the major dealers are completely out of stock! They’ve been out for months now! Also learned that although the price of silver is low compared to a few months ago, ebay traders are getting will above the going market price it should be. Why is this you ask? Well, there is some debate as to whether a “conspiracy” is going on to keep prices low and hide the fact there is a major shortage. Even the mints that produce the bars are closing some of their production facilities. No one is really coming forward to say there is a shortage, but the lack of inventory everywhere can really only mean one thing, there are no large supplies readily available. Once the mainstream public knows about this, prices are sure to skyrocket. If you get a chance, get some now. Prices won’t stay this low for very long.

This week, I’ve personally found there are the 4 parts in life that determine happiness. Over the last week, I’ve had a life changing revelation.

Decisions: First, I recognized that every moment in our lives requires us to make decisions. Every second of our day, we are making numerous decisions subconsciously and consciously. By you reading this, you’ve made a decision to continue reading the rest of this posting. Your continuing to read thereafter is another decision not to stop. Life is made up of the constant decisions you make every moment. Realizing this is the first step to taking control of your life and making it worth something.

Choices: We make decisions based on the choices we believe that are available to us. When someone says, “I have (or had) no choice, it’s a belief to them, not a fact. If you are sitting at a desk reading this, you have multiple choices you can make if you choose to explore your options. At this very moment you could stand, walk away, jump, turn off the computer, sing a song, continue reading, get something to eat, etc…  Your choices are abundant at any given moment. How many choices you see will all be based on the next item.

Focus: Your mind has an unlimited ability to create choices for you to make. What you choose to focus on at any given moment is what will determine the types of choices you will think that you have. If you’re hungry, obtaining food will undoubtedly pop up as an option for you. If you are under pressure to complete something, you may limit yourself as to how many choices you give yourself to get a task done. All of your focus will usually be due to the following.

Satisfaction: Your satisfaction in the moment will determine all of the above. For me, this was the key to everything. The 4 steps are cyclical, and therefore puts everything into a never ending system of realizing that you are first and foremost in charge of your life. Here is how it works for me:

1. In the beginning of my day, I choose to focus on how satisfied I am in life. I look around and Thank God for all the blessings I have around me and how fortunate I am. This in turn changes my focus for the day.
2. Now that I am in the mindset of how blessed I am, my focus turns to looking at everything that is great around me. (As you can imagine, I am already in a better mood)
3. With all the decisions I have to make for myself from the moment I wake up, my choices seem abundant and uplifting. I now see every choice available to me as a blessing.
4. At this point in the process, it doesn’t take much to satisfy me. Since I have such a newly revived sense of being blessed, my choices are much different than they used to be. I used to make choices based on trying to get never ending satisfaction, now I make more choices to satisfy others. This doesn’t mean I’ve become completely selfless. I am still a selfish human being, but it just seems that my mental state has become a lot less “me focused” now that I have a such an awareness of how grateful I am for what I have. Turn on the local news for a few moments, and it can really make you realize how much tragedy is going on for others around you, and things could be a lot worse.

Be grateful…

If you’ve ever volunteered, there’s no doubt you got something out of it. In some cases it may be obvious, in other cases the benefits may be hidden or dormant for a while until an opportunity to use the skills learned from your volunteer efforts come to pass. I believe that some of the best lessons can be learned through volunteering and giving of your time. There are times when you’ll be standing there scratching your head wondering why you’re doing the work for free and what benefit is all this headache you may be going through. Just remember to look back at all the benefits you are getting for being there. If you’re not volunteering anywhere, help someone when you get a chance. I strongly believe everything happens for a reason and is there to help you accomplish your purpose here on earth.

Can’t believe its been 5 weeks since my last post. So much has gone on! Oil prices are down and i just found out that there is a huge amount of Shale under my rental property. Under a special lease agreement, we are able to profit from natural gas to be extracted from under the property without any disruption to the tenants. Very Cool! Hopefully one day they can actually extract the shale to be used as an energy resource.

I’ve decided to take steps in learning web design with dreamweaver and graphic design with photoshop. This well probably keep me quite busy over the next few weeks, but give us good progress in designing nice websites. I’ve also learned how to post podcasts to itunes. Our church is now on itunes and so is are companies podcast’s. Exciting stuff for me. Still learning so much about what the internet has to offer.

Also learned a new program called gimp. It’s a free photoshop type program. Lot’s of power! So much to learn though.

Booked a vacation with my mom, sister, and wife. Should be a blast. Looking for more opportunities to take advantage that my wife speaks japanese and english and we have connections there to help us bring product over. Lots to learn about import and export as well.