What do you think/

It's early October. This month is celebrated for so many 'things'. It is Breast Cure month, Careers Awareness, Teachers' Appreciation, Public Service month, Senior Citizens month and Youth Month. There is so much overlapping and some of the things that should be celebrated is lost in the fray.

Do we need to re think what we emphasize? Or do we need to go to week instead of month? What do you think?

And these all require some funding as each group would like their own celebration by themselves. And even as the financial situation improves slowly, we need to spend thrift.

Let's re think the things we are celebrating where money is needed. Maybe we can pay in time.

Teachers

World Teachers' Day is in a few days.

Take the time to speak to your former teachers, your children's teachers and if you are a teacher take the time to congratulate each other.

Teachers are under appreciated.

Let us remember that no matter where we are in life we passed through the hands of a teacher. Some of us may have listened and others may not have, but we all have something that we can thanks you to a teacher for.

Freshly Grown Food

Today with the high cost of living growing one's own food stuff is necessary.

If we grow our own food we will eat better. When we plant the vegetables, we will plant those we like and can share with family and friends. We know that fresh vegetables and fruits are essential for overall health.

Apart from being a way to produce fresh food stuff, we implement exercise so we have a two fold thing going on. It can also bring together friends and family members, encourage young people to explore the way food crops are grown. It would be more benefitting to pick your own tomatoes, did your own potatoes and pull your own onions.

Not only will you eat healthier you make some money. You can sell your excess produce, start a farmer's mart in your neighbourhood.

Think about this, we will eat straight from the garden, fresh to the table. And when you grow it you can grow organically instead of using pesticides or other chemicals.

Plant a tree to provide food, ornaments are good bit you can't eat them.

Make no excuses, do.

We must stop making excuses for not doing the things we want to do. Whatever you want to do, especially if it's to make things better for family, friend and the community just do it.

When we make excuses, things don't get done. We stand still, at times in a rut. If we do we move forward. This forward movement allows others to examine themselves and think they to can improve. So let's stop making excuses and do what we know we should be doing.

Investing and Celebrating Our Youth

How do we invest in and celebrate our Youth?
This is a question we should all consider. Today too many of our young people die too early. Some never get out of their teens.

Why is it so easy for our young people to get ahold of weapons of any kind. Some have east access to guns, knives and home made weapons. Should parents not periodically check their children's rooms, bags, cars? Why do they have so much privacy in your home?

It is time to take back the power over the youth from the people outside the home who are using them to kill themselves and others. We need to deal with anger management, respect for others no matter the creed, race or class.

We must put in place things that the youth can strive to do and be rewarded for. Why not start a real dialogue? Why not encourage them to join 'debate teams' speech organization, geared to them not adults. Why can they not be taught how to own and operate a small business, be it making holiday, speciality cards, design business cards, make pies and other home made candies and market these to the food store or just to home owners. If the adults invest the time into teaching the skills than the investment would pay off.

As a community the youth with the best product can be encouraged to expand his market.

What are your thoughts?

On the Road to Wealth

The Secrets to Wealth

People whose net worth ranged from "comfortable" to approaching a billion dollars all achieved significant financial wealth, and all of them have done it on their own. There was no inherited money they accumulate money. TIPS for uu.

1. Save 10% of everything you make, no matter what. The amount they recommended varied slightly, but they were unanimous: Live within your means and save money every month.

2. Invest for the long haul. They pointed to Warren Buffet and noted that he buys and holds a stock for 20 years or longer. Invest in things you understand, and hold on!

3. Avoid debt. They talked about raising capital for their businesses (sometimes borrowing from investors), but insisted that personal debt be eliminated. One woman said, "consumer debt is devastating. If you want to achieve financial wealth, kill your credit cards." Another added, "no car or boat or anything else is worth the cost (financial and emotional) of borrowing money."

4. Crunch the numbers. They talked about doing their financial statements "every month, no matter what." Another added, "Only the numbers tell you how you're really doing; you've got to watch them like a hawk and use the information every day."

5. Have a plan. They expect their investments to grow steadily over the years (not over-night), and they plan accordingly. They emphasized setting 20, 30, even 50-year financial goals.

6. Know that money is one way of keeping score, but it's not the game itself. Money comes from investing or creating or doing something other people value and will pay for. They emphasized that "it's fun to have nice things" but noted that the money was secondary to doing "interesting things."

All of them had stories of starting out with school loans, small children, a "stuffy little apartment," working for minimum wage or eating "lots of macaroni and cheese," and yet knowing that they could "achieve some measure of success." Now, they've done it, and so can you. We can learn from the experts!

Thought for Today Saturday September 5 2009

The Fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.

Examine the times you were fearful. Think back to what actually happened when you face whatever it was you were fearful of. How did you feel after facing the Fear?

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