Published reports are indicating that General Motors will move up the production of their updated line of GMC and Chevrolet pick up trucks by three months with the new models making their debut in October 2006. Some are calling this move an act of desperation on the part of GM which has been socked by extensive criticism over its product line, while others are hailing it as a bold, strategic initiative. Regardless, this is an unusual move for the world’s number one automaker, one that could help the company get back on its feet. Let’s take a look at the new trucks and what they will offer to you, the consumer.

High gas prices, quality problems, and a perception that the company offers products that no one wants has been plaguing General Motors for much of the past year. With plant closures coming, layoffs pending, and market share decreasing, little good news has been focused on “the general” by the automobile press. Fortunately, GM is battling back with fresh models set to be released including SUVs and trucks, which are the “bread and butter” vehicles of the company. Here is what you can expect to see when the new trucks enter the market in Autumn 2006:

1. Fresh sheetmetal. All new exteriors with a modified and sportier front end.

2. Modified engines. Traditional work horse engines which have powered GMC trucks for much of the past decade are expected to return. However, displacement on demand technology, which shuts down unneeded cylinders at certain times [city traffic being one example] is expected to be incorporated on some motors. This technology effectively increases gas mileage without sacrificing performance.

3. New steering. Just as the SUVs will receive new rack and pinion steering when they make their debut in Spring 2006, the large pick up trucks should receive similar enhancements.

4. Interior upgrades. Changes to the trucks’ interior as well as to packages offered will be some of the “inside” changes noticed by consumers.

General Motors has its work cut out for itself as an eroding market share is threatening the very viability of the company. Part of the reason for the move up of production is to thwart the new models expected from Nissan and Toyota that compete directly against the GMC pick ups. Both Japanese automakers have stated that they, too, are moving up the production of their popular full sized pick ups, therefore General Motors is reacting in part to their anticipated moves.

Beyond GMC trucks, the automaker will be releasing the Saturn Sky convertible, revamping its entire line of full sized SUVs, and overhauling several other lines of vehicles in a bid to win over customers. All of these changes are steps in the right direction, but the unanswered question remains this: how will consumers respond? The answer isn’t likely to be known for at least one more year.

Copyright 2005 — Matt Keegan is a contributing writing about GMC Parts for PitStop Auto Parts a retailer of
Kleen Wheels Dust Shields, EBC Brakes, and other fine parts.

Dating can be hard. Or rather, going on one date can be easy but launching from one date into two or three may be more difficult. Because of this, here are another ten things never to say or talk about on a first date, if you’d like a second.

1) Why you hate your mother. Save it for your analyst, not for the woman or man you are trying to woo.

2) Any physical aberrations. First dates are not the time to say, “Hey, I have six toes on my left foot” or “I have a third nipple.” Though that may pique a person’s interest for a look-see, it will automatically label you as “extra-toe chick” or “weird nipple guy” before the person even gets to know the real you.

3) The number of people you slept with or haven’t slept with. This will either make you look like a) a whore, b) a prude, and/or c) desperate.

4) The amount of money you make or don’t make. This will make you look like either a show-off or a complainer. Keep your finances to yourself for a while. It’s nobody’s business but yours, your accountantsif you have one, and the IRS.

5) Favorite porn magazines or movies. If One Night in Paris was the best movie you ever saw, no one needs to know. The reason should be self-evident.

6) Your biggest celebrity crush. No female will ever feel as attractive (or curvy) as Pamela Anderson. Don’t inadvertently put down your date by saying you’ve always had the hots for some hyper-plastic celebrity. A mere mortal will feel, “If that’s the type of people he goes for, I don’t have a chance.”

7) Calculus, physics, or cold fusionunless of course you both are mathematicians, scientists or computer engineers. Talking about “smart” things won’t necessarily make the look smart. It could make your date think you are a) a nerd, b) a geek, or c) pretentious.

Don’t name drop, including place names. Though your date may be interested in your travels, he doesn’t need to know you went to The Hamptons and dined at the same restaurant as Billy Joel or that you went to St. Moritz and skied with the Royal Family. Even if you are a close friend of Will and Harry, first dates don’t need to know…otherwise see c) under 7.

9) That time when you got really drunk. Does a date really need to hear about your stupidity, vomiting and passing out? Do you really need to relive it? Talking about drunken episodes makes you sound like a frat boy/sorority girl with a Peter Pan syndrome.

10) Any previous first dates you’ve had. No one wants to be the next person on your list whose anecdotes will shared with another date. Respect people’s privacy and they’ll respect yours.

Following these simple rules…and a little chemistry…should get you to date number two.

Jill L. Ferguson is the author of Sometimes Art Can’t Save You by In Your Face Ink LLC (http://www.inyourfaceink.com). Over 600 of her articles, essays and poems have been published in newspapers, magazines and journals. When she isn’t writing, she teaches literature, creative writing and communication classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Notre Dame de Namur University.

Many of us in sales are taught to believe that the most important job of the salesperson is to ‘find the need’ of our prospects. If we can uncover ‘needs’ then our job is easy; we just need to show our prospect how our product or service fills that need. Right?

Well, the problem with that approach is that it only addresses part of the pie. Think about it. What do you do when YOU need something? Let’s say you need to buy a new computer; do you sit around and wait, hoping that a computer salesperson is going to call you? NO, of course not; you go out and you fulfill your need.

So, as a salesperson, if people really NEED your product or service they will pick up the phone and call you to place an order. If that’s the case, why aren’t you selling more??? Oh, you say, they’re buying from your competitor. Or, you might tell me, ‘Well, they just don’t KNOW that they need my product or service; my job is to ‘find the need’ and to ‘build their pain.’

Let me give you another way to think about this…suppose, just suppose for a moment, that instead of just focusing on ‘needs’ we broaden our thinking: as a salesperson you want to find out about what people DO. Your job is to find out and understand what they’re doing now, how they’re doing it, who they’re doing it with, when they’re doing, why they’re doing it that way, and then to help them do it better. Makes sense, right?

When you adopt the DO philosophy over the NEEDS philosophy, your thinking and the questioning will become much broader. By asking ‘do’ based questions you get better information from your prospects, which in turn allow you to make a proposal that will make much more sense to the prospect. And the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense to them.

By asking ‘do’ based question you are creating a conversation which engages your prospect. When performed at its best, selling is an extended conversation; it is not an interrogation by the salesperson, and neither is it a ‘product dump’ where you aim to tell your prospect anything and everything you can about your services.

What are some examples of ‘do’ based questions? Well, here are a few:

• ‘What are you currently doing about _______?’

• ‘I’m just curious, what made you decide to do it that way?’

• ‘How did you decide to do that?’

• ‘What are you hoping to accomplish in the next quarter, year, three years…?’

• ‘Tell me exactly what you do here?’ Or, ‘tell me what your key areas of responsibility are?’

• How was this decision made in the past?

• Will the decision process be the same this time around?

Take some time to make a list of questions that you can ask that are relevant to your business. Some of the questions may not seem to have a logical or direct tie to your product or service; that’s OK. In fact, that’s good! By focusing on what your prospects do and how they do it, you are opening up the whole dynamic of your sales call into a true conversation; one that will help you better understand the goals, objectives, and needs of your prospect. By broadening your conversation in this way you are then able to make the proposal or recommendation that will make sense to your prospect.

And, in the end, the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense!

Mark Dembo and Thomas J. Baskind are Managing Partners in DEI/Lexien of Greater New York, a sales performance improvement and management consulting company. They both have over 20 years of management and consulting experience in a variety of organizations. They invite you to visit their website, http://www.lexien.com/, and welcome your comments and inquiries.

The Top 10 Ways to Attract Loyalty

Loyalty is valued and appreciated by most, but often hard to
come by. Below are some suggestions as to how to attract loyal
individuals into your life. Notice that many of the suggestions
involve your own behavior.

1. Define what it means to you. Loyalty means different things
to different people. Determine what it means to you. What does
it look like? How does it make you feel? Only then can you truly
recognize it and welcome it into your life.

2. Model the behavior that you expect from others. If you
practice loyalty and make it a part of your value system, you
will easily recognize it in others. Those are the individuals
you’ll be attracted to.

3. Be true to yourself. Spend time getting to know yourself,
taking care of yourself, and standing up for yourself. If you
are loyal to YOU - others will be, too.

4. Speak up! If loyalty is what you value, educate those around
you. Let them know what is important to you.

5. Accept it! Many of us have so many past hurts that we
question every gift that comes our way. We are bitter, and
hesitant to accept what others have to offer. Life is too short
to live in fear. Open your heart and accept loyalty when it
comes your way.

6. Don’t tolerate disloyalty. If someone in your life is
treating you in a disloyal manner, it’s your responsibility to
let them know. You owe it to yourself.

7. Life is a journey - allow others the opportunity to change.
Some individuals may act in a disloyal manner and, once educated
or confronted, will make every effort to shift their behavior.
Don’t be too hasty to push someone out of your life. You may be
forsaking a great potential relationship.

8. Live in the moment. When you live in the moment, your
awareness sharpens. You will find loyalty in situations that you
never expected.

9. Show gratitude. Acknowledge those in your life who are loyal
to you. They will appreciate your feedback.

10. Get a pet! Now this is true loyalty!!

© By Monique Rider 2001

For most of you being a mother is one of the most wonderful and
rewarding experiences that you will have in your life. It can
also be a time when you feel lost and out of touch with who you
are outside of being a “mommy”. Maintaining an identity outside
of your children is vitally important, not just for you, but for
your family as well. So here are ten strategies that not only
keep you connected with you, but also have the added bonus of
being an important life skill to teach your children.

1. Be present- Often when we spend time with our children
we are thinking about the things that we should be doing or we
multi task and we are not really present with them. Then, when
we are not with them, we feel guilty. Make the decision that
when you spend time with your child to just be there for them,
enjoy them, listen to them, and focus on them 100%. Spending
this type of quality time with your child will lessen the guilt
and help you focus on other activities with the same 100%
attention. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to focus on
and enjoy the moment.

2. Take care of yourself-
This is a big one for most women since we get so busy caring for
others we tend to forget about ourselves. Define what taking
care of yourself means to you and develop a schedule to do it.
Keep tweaking your schedule until you are actually fitting
taking care of yourself into the day. Taking care of yourself
helps to replenish your spirit, it helps you to relax, and it
helps you to feel good about yourself. Added Bonus:
Teaches your child to develop healthy habits that will last a
lifetime.

3. Connect with you partner- It is so
easy to get wrapped up in the kids and in everyday life that you
forget about your relationship with your partner. Connect with
your partner as often as you can, make a point to sit down over
coffee on a Sunday morning and just talk about anything and
everything, but the kids. It can be silly or profound, just make
sure you connect with each other as a couple. Added
Bonus: Teaches your child how to maintain a healthy
relationship.

4. Get involved- Get involved in
some activity that is only for you. It can be work,
volunteering, a class, or a book club. Just get involved in some
regular activity where you are not a wife or a mommy, you are
just you. Added Bonus: Encourages your child to
participate in outside activities.

5. Have
meaningful conversations- Sometimes when you have children
your day gets so caught up with “kid stuff” that you can’t
remember the last time you had a meaningful adult conversation.
Have you ever felt frustrated, aggravated and on edge and then
gone out to a long dinner with a friend and felt like a new
woman at the end of the night? That is why it is important to
have meaningful conversations. Added Bonus: Teaches your
child to get their needs met by more than one person.

6. Read- Who has time to read? We all do. It doesn’t have
to be a long time, and reading is a great way to be
intellectually stimulated. It exposes us to different subjects
and new ideas, even when it is a light and fluffy read. Staying
intellectually stimulated is important because it keeps us in
touch with what we find exciting and gets those brain cells
snapping. . Added Bonus: Teaches your child to seek out
and appreciate knowledge.

7. Take time for just you- Make sure you get some get
some quality time for just you. It can be anything you want from
spending time with a friend, to getting a manicure, or just
being by yourself. Just do something that is only for you, it
will fill you up and refresh you. You will feel like a new woman
after you are done. . Added Bonus: Encourages your child
to be independent.

8. Remember that you have needs
too- We have needs, and it is our responsibility to get them
met. If you’re feeling frustrated, or unappreciated, instead of
walking around feeling angry and misunderstood, figure out a way
to get those needs met. Talk about them, ask for support, and be
specific. And remember most people can’t read minds so you have
to communicate with them to get those needs met. Added Bonus:
Teaches your child how to effectively meet their own needs.

9. Give yourself permission- Why do we feel like
bad mothers for wanting to do something for ourselves? Every
woman who I have ever talked to that wants to express an
unhappiness about being a mother feels the need to qualify it by
saying “Well, of course I love my child more than anything in
the world but…”. Of course you do, but it doesn’t mean that you
can’t be unhappy about the way something is going or how you
feel. This is how you feel right now, there is nothing wrong
with that, you’re a normal mother. Give yourself permission to
feel the way you do and do something for yourself to feel
better. Even if that means stepping back from your child for a
couple of hours. . Added Bonus: Teaches your child to
recognize and healthily deal with their emotions.

10. Be a role model- When you ask most parents what they
want most for their children they say that they want them to be
happy and successful contributing adults. The very best way to
ensure that comes true for your child is to be a role model. If
you want your child to be confident, get their needs met, be
sure of who they are, and happy with their life, just remember
that they learn that from you. . Added Bonus: Teaches
your child to act with integrity.

Being a mother in
today’s modern world is tricky business. We are bombarded all
day long with messages of what makes a “good mother”. Just
forget all that, and be true to you. Being joyful, present, and
authentically you is the very best gift you can give to yourself
and your child.

My dear Swapna,

Please answer the following questionnaire. You will get 10 marks for (a), 5
marks for (b) and 3 marks for (c). If you have scored more than 40, then you love me. Don’t delay to express it. If you have scored between 30 and 40, love is budding in your heart and it’s getting ready to bloom. If you have scored less than 30, you are in confusion whether to love me or not.

1) Whenever you enter the classroom, your sight always falls on me because

(a) of love
(b) you couldn’t resist seeing me
(c) really…. am I doing it?

2) Whenever professor cracks joke, you laugh and turn and look at me because

(a) you always like to see me smiling
(b) you are testing whether I like jokes
(c) you are attracted by my smile

3) When you were singing in the class, I entered and immediately you stopped
singing because

(a) you are so coy to sing before me
(b) my presence influenced you
(c) you feared whether I’d like your song

4) When you were showing your nude child photo, when I asked for it, you hid
it because

(a) you felt ashamed
(b) you felt uneasy if I would imagine you nude
(c) you don’t know

5) During trekking, my friend and myself gave you hand for lifting you. You
took only my friend’s because

(a) you enjoyed my disappointment
(b) you won’t feel like leaving my hand after grabbing
(c) you don’t know

6) You were waiting yesterday for bus and didn’t get into your bus.

(a) You were waiting for me
(b) you were dreaming about me and didn’t notice the bus
(c) that bus was crowded

7) You introduced me to your parents when they came to college because

(a) I am going to be their son-in-law
(b) you just wanted to know what your parents think about me
(c) you just felt like introducing me to them

I told that I like girls wearing roses. Next day, you came with a
rose on your head because

(a) to fulfill my wish
(b) you like roses
(c) by chance you got a rose

9) On that day, it was my birthday. You too came to temple early at
6:00 AM because

(a) you want to pray along with me
(b) you want to meet me before any one could meet on my birthday
(c) you want to wish me at temple because you are spiritual

Eagerly awaiting the result of Love Exam

- Aakash

Swapna’s reply letter was also in Q/A format.

Aakash,

Please answer the following Yes/No questionnaire.

1) If somebody sits in the first row, normally people entering the class,
sees them

(a) Yes
(b) No

2) If a girl laughs and sees anyone, is it love?

(a) Yes
(b) No

3) While singing, if somebody forgets lines of the songs, will he/she stop
singing or not?

(a) Yes
(b) No

4) I was showing the photo to my friends who are girls. You poked you nose
inside….right?

(a) Yes
(b) No

5) I avoided holding your hand during trekking. Couldn’t you understand yet?

(a) Yes
(b) No

6) Should I not wait for my friend (girl)?

(a) Yes
(b) No

7) Shouldn’t I introduce you to my parents as a friend?

(a) Yes
(b) No

You have said you also like Lotus, cauliflower, and banana’s flower. Is
it true?

(a) Yes
(b) No

9) Oh was that your birthday. That’s why I saw you in the temple. I
come daily to the temple. Do you know?

(a) Yes
(b) No

If you have answered, “Yes” to any of the question, then I do not love
you. If you have answered “No”, then you don’t know the meaning of Love.

- Swapna

Your Comprehensive Guide to Calicut city
(kozhikode) and Calicut Yellowpages

The hardest client

The hardest client that we have worked for kept changing their
mind about how they wanted their site to look. They kept
changing their keywords and their content. They made my team
search for hours to find the perfect images, only to decide that
the images didn’t quite feel quite right. The hardest project
that we have ever taken part in was our own site redesign. The
following is a guide to redesigning for your own web design
company.

Step one: Sit down with coffee and a mirror

The first step that I would advise is to sit down with a fresh
cup of coffee and a shaving mirror. Remember all those questions
that you ask prospective clients? Well look in the mirror and
ask yourself them. Even better, if you have a project planner
fill it out at the same time.

Step two: Forget who you are designing for

It might sound like an odd thing to write, but forget that you
are designing for yourself. Look at all the information that is
on the sheet of paper only. Look to see what the website goal
is; look to see if there are any colour scheme requests. Then
once you have thought about it and made all the notes that you
need, take a break.

Step three: Research and scribbling

Take the time to research, look for designs that you like, look
for colour patterns that work well together. Don’t forget your
pencil and paper for sketching out ideas.

Step four: Actually using your computer

Fire up that graphic editing programme and start creating a
digital version of your design.

Step five: Code

Now we you can do what you were born to do - code.

Step six: Review

Next you need to take your new design to the masses to see which
they prefer more. Post on a forum, go to the local hip coffee
shop, your grandmas anywhere that isn’t your office and ask
which they like more (after all, designers don’t come to you to
get their website built, it’s Joe public who does).

Step seven: Publish

So the guy with the goatee and sunglasses drinking a triple
espresso, “DextersLab172″ and your grandma all preferred your
new design? In that case your mission is complete, upload your
new site to your server and feel happy that you survived the
redesign of your company site.

What not to do:

Think “oh I am a web designer, I will just throw something
together and hope it turns out nice” because believe me, you
will be back at the drawing board more times than you care to
remember. Good forward planning always triumphs over trial and
error.

Written by Paul Gray - Director of Net Studios

Surprisingly enough, a “sugabrasion” is an effective remedy for acne prone skin. It whisks away old skin cells and unclogs pores. Here’s what to do:

After cleaning face and rinsing completely cover face with soothing acidic oil - such as olive oil.

Apply granulated sugar; the oil acts as a medium; holding it on the face, preventing the face from being scraped or scratched.

Gently roll the “sand” mixture across the skin; do not press, do not rub too briskly. Use small circular motions, not sweeping ones. Be careful not to press hard, or stretch the skin.

After sugar dissolves, about one minute, use warm water and a good cleanser to wash the solution away. Rinse at least a dozen of times to thoroughly remove alkaline residue.

Using this method to exfoliate your skin once in the morning and again in the evening is an effective remedy for acne because it “peels” away dead skin cells, and removes bacteria-attracting debris that clogs pores. It also speeds up new cell growth for younger looking skin; mature complexions look radiant and more youthful.

This technique is safer than a chemical peel and less irritating to the skin than a deep skin peel. Visible benefits are immediately realized; dramatic results seen in about three weeks.

Variation 2

Another variation involves omitting the olive oil. Instead, dampen washcloth with warm water. Add a mild facial cleaning agent; I like Clean & Clear Foaming Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin. It is an inexpensive yet effective cleaner.

Add to tablespoon sugar. Apply to damp face, using same circular method described above to exfoliate. Rinse well. Apply moisturizer of choice.

Using a mild liquid facial cleanser instead of olive oil is quicker, because it omits the need to follow with a second application of cleaner.

Other Benefits

Other benefits of this home-remedy exfoliating cleansing method are this: sugar is a natural substance, procedure is simple and inexpensive; sugar benefits the skin because it attracts moisture. Sugar granules are safer than (let’s say) granulated fruit pits, because they dissolve.

Lastly, and most importantly, a sugabrasion really works! It is one sweet remedy for acne prone skin, and adds a healthy glow to your complexion for younger looking skin.

©2006 Lori S. Anton, Writers Write Now

Lori S. Anton is a published writer with 30 yrs. experience, and founder of WRITERS WRITE NOW, providing unique content, SEO content, and free content. With a passion for creative writing, Lori has learned to exploit the effectiveness of engaging titles, crafting interesting content that holds the reader’s interest. She resides in Wyoming with her husband, Jeff, and diabetic canine darling, Muffy. CLICK HERE for Lori’s free content.

If your organization needs funds for an activity or project there’s one way to go about it quickly and effectively - a fundraiser, of course. Not only for getting funds, a fundraiser also is a community building exercise and social activity, which can strengthen your organizations ties with the larger community. There’s a lot of different ways to raise money, so pick one that will fit best for the needs of your organization and its goals.

Whatever you decide on as a fundraising event, make sure that it fits the time of year, the interests of your community and is realistic in terms of meeting your fundraising goals. Of course, there’s more than one way to pay for that church outing, new uniforms for the soccer team or whatever you group’s goal may be.

Besides the event based fundraising model, selling products is a terrific way to raise money for your organization. There are a lot of fundraising catalogs available featuring merchandise well suited for these purposes. These sorts of fundraisers are especially popular with schools and houses of worship as a fundraising tool. You’re probably familiar with these to some extent - children going door to door selling products, such as frozen cookie dough from a catalog and then sending the money to the catalog company with the products then being sent and delivered later by the children. There’s products in these catalogs to suit anyone’s needs or interests and as such make for a great fundraising strategy for any organization.

With so many different products available for fundraising purposes from these catalogs, they remain a popular choice for groups of all types. It is a certainty that you have had children knock on your door selling you candy or any number of other products in the past to raise money for their school. Catalogs featuring small gift items tend to be a good choice for holiday seasons. It all depends on the needs of your organization. Once again, keep the season in mind - you’re not likely to sell too many Christmas ornaments in April!

These catalog based fundraisers are far more labor intensive than some other fundraising models, so make sure that you will have the support of other volunteers to assist you with the operations. You’ll need people to distribute catalogs to students or group members and others to act as treasurers for the funds as they come in. These treasurers will also handle making the orders at the end of the fund drive, as well as ensuring the merchandise is correctly distributed to students as it comes in - and making sure the merchandise gets where it is supposed to go afterwards. As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done in these fundraisers, but the returns are well worth it for your organization.

Just when you think you know it all, some 17-month old child
comes along and teaches you another valuable life lesson.

Little Lady lost her favorite ball. There are few things that
bring this 17-month-old more joy than playing with her favorite
ball. And, of course, we want our daughter to have all the
happiness she can get.

So we headed out to the store to replace the missing ball.
Little Lady enjoyed the outing, since there were so many
exciting things to pull off shelves. And when we reached the
ball aisle, she nearly jumped for joy. (OK, more like raced to
the bin and started covering the floor with her joy, one bounce
at a time.)

As we left the aisle, Little Lady was happy and smiling. She
held her replacement ball in her hands as we walked up to the
cash. While waiting to pay, Little Lady caught sight of a red
balloon that had obviously been used for some promotion, but was
now wandering aimlessly around the floor like a lost puppy.

If you think a ball can bring happiness, wait ’til you see the
sparkle in the eye of a toddler who has just found her very own
red balloon. Pure joy! Of course, she adopted the balloon
immediately and clung to it all the way back to the car. Did she
want to hold the ball? No way. She had a balloon!

I couldn’t help but marvel at how she valued the free, fragile
balloon more than the sturdy ball I for which had just paid good
money. Is there a lesson we can learn for self-actualization?
Here are the possible lessons that immediately occurred to me:

1. Why bother having a thick skin, if your daughter prefers thin
skins? 2. If you drift aimlessly long enough, you might get
adopted. 3. Money can’t buy the most important things in life
(happiness, joy, smiles, balloons, etc.) 4. Your child can see
value where you cannot, so listen to what she says.

I figure at least two of these are valuable lessons that can add
happiness to a person’s life. Little Lady teaches me
self-actualization lessons daily now, and I am learning to
listen with head and heart.

How often do we value the wrong things? The things that cost the
most? How hard to we work to earn all that extra income to buy
things we simply do not need. Anyone reading this probably has
more than she will ever need, and yet don’t we all want more
anyway?

Suppose we chose to have less of the things money can buy, and
instead chose to have more time? More time to spend with our
family? More time to spend with ourselves? More time to just be?
What if we are giving up the red balloon chasing after the ball?

My wife and I made a big decision a few months ago. We gave up
the condo in the city for a big ol’ house in the country. Our
red balloon was space to raise a family in a much less noisy and
stressed-out environment. The ball we gave up was the “glamour”
of city living and a fancy condo.

Assuming we can make a living from my book, my ezine, my web
site and whatever other work-from-home projects I take on, we
get to keep the red balloon.

I invite you to look carefully at your life. Ask what truly
brings you meaning. Then ask yourself if you could have more of
that if you spent less time and effort on activities that don’t
bring you meaning but just fill your time.

Enjoy your red balloon.