Small Steps And Golden Stones

It was a long walk but someone had to do it. And today it was up to Tori to carry the water from the river, through the fields and across the valley, back to the camp.

He set out early before sunrise so that he could do his work before the heat of the day became too much. Very soon he was standing by the side of the river. He knelt down and cupped the flowing water into his hands.

It felt great. So refreshing, cool and alive as it flowed through his outstretched hands. He drank some of the revitalizing waters before filling the two large urns with this clear, fresh water.

Holding one urn to his chest with each hand, Tori started the long walk back to the distant camp. Even though the sun was now rising he could still not even make out the outline of the tents. They were there somewhere on the other side of these fields, and across the wooded valley.

He walked on, taking care to stay clear of the high grass that tried to brush against him as he made his way along the path through the field. He also took care to keep his balance as he walked along the dirt track otherwise he would spill water all along his route.

Tori walked quickly and before long, even before he noticed, he was on the outskirts of the camp. The sun was a golden orange as he stopped to rest. He put the urns down on the ground and at that moment Kuma, the old wiseman of the village, walked out to greet him.

Kuma had a smile on his old face as he looked down at the dew drenched trousers worn by Tori. He giggled as he waved his walking stick in the air and explained to the confused Tori why he was laughing so hard.

Here is what he said: **When you focus on what you want to avoid those little monsters grow even bigger, and faster than you expect. Instead put your attention only on what you want and where you want to go.

Today as you walked through the field you wanted to avoid getting wet and hot. Nor did you want to lose any water from those two full urns. But you got soaked by the wet grass and you slipped from time to time on the damp track and lost a little water each time. And all the worry made you sweat.

If instead you had paid attention to what you wanted - to be cool and dry as you carried the urns you might have noticed the other pathway through the field. The one in the shadow of the forest.

You can walk along that trail of perfectly level golden stones at anytime of the day without being bothered by the heat of the sun. One step and one golden stone at a time would have brought you home very dry indeed with two urns full to the brim.**

And so it is for us all. Know what you want and you just might get it otherwise you are doomed to get what you worry about - that which you do not want.

The best communicators and the most persuasive presenters know exactly what they want to say and how they want to impact their audience.

If they want you to laugh they tell a good joke, if they want you to listen up they might speak more softly or even pause and use silence to capture your attention. And if they want to feel relaxed and confident for a big event they prepare diligently in advance of the big day.

Your Golf Swing: How To Avoid Being An 'Elevator Man'

When I was "very" young, there was no such thing as an elevator that anybody who stepped into could operate. There was always a uniformed man politely asking for a floor number that he could take you to.

To my young mind, this 'elevator man' was instantly transformed into 'rocket man'. He became my spaceship captain and I was his newest recruit as I stepped into the elevator, willing to "boldly go where no man has gone before".

Youthful fantasizing about space travel has now given way to hopeful fantasizing about a golf swing that can launch a golf ball into the stratosphere.

The fact is, rather than being 'rocket men' most golfers become 'elevator men' unable to hold their posture consistently through their golf swing. In other words, at the top of the back swing there is more elevation of the spine than rotation of the spine.

This creates any number of additional swing plane faults. The greatest danger from my perspective as a physical therapist is that increased forces are transferred into the lower back and shoulders as a result of a lack of thoracic spine mobility.

It therefore is not a question of if there is an injury but when and where. No wonder than that the results of a TPI survey of 7000 amateur golfers reveal that 28.1% of them reported low back pain; 12. 24% reported left shoulder pain and 12.21% reported right shoulder pain.

You can recognize an elevator man if you look at his golf swing from a 'down-the-line' view (looking from the players trailing side down the line toward the target). Draw a line from the golfer's ear to his waist as he is set in the address position.

Then mark where that line is at the top of his backswing. If it moves more than an inch, it is a positive finding for loss of posture. This is a huge problem. Out of 412 amateurs interviewed, 64.3% reported a loss of body angles.

So, what can be done? First, talk to your doctor about your lack of flexibility. Second, learn the fundamentals of the golf swing from a golf pro.

Third, get some help from a fitness professional and whenever possible someone who is certified as a golf fitness instructor.

Fourth, commit to strengthening your core muscles and stretching to increase your flexibility.

Fifth, Enjoy your new, pain free golf swing, lower scores and

Have a Great Game!

5 Ways a Virtual Assistant can Increase your Revenue

Okay, so you know you've got the best darn designer tap shoes and weather resistant tutus around, but you're still falling short of the first million. Well, here are just five of the countless ways a VA can increase your revenue.

1. Constant Cash Flow

Rev up your Receivables. Do you invoice your clients promptly? If money isn't coming in as quickly as you'd like, and your deposit slips are gathering dust, it's time to turn over your billing to a Virtual Assistant. A VA will invoice your clients as frequently as you like, provide your customers a gentle reminder if something becomes overdue, or if you like, give them an assertive nudge when necessary.

2. Word of Mouth

Happy customers keep coming back, see the value in your service, and quickly spread the word of their happiness. Cha-Ching. Are your current customers and prospective clients provided the luxury of hearing a human voice when they call your place of business? Think about your personal preferences. Don't you experience a certain level of satisfaction when leaving your message with a real person? Compare that to the vacant, impersonal feeling you're left with after entrusting a machine to hold and deliver your communiqué. Give your customers good feelings! Forward your calls to your own personal Virtual Assistant who will professionally answer your phone calls and assure all of those who call that your business is indeed run by people who care about its customers.

3. Perception is Key.

The one vital factor, that's critical for your success, is how people perceive your operation. Did you know that the actual size of your company isn't important? Do you realize it doesn't matter how smoothly things genuinely run? Honestly! If your office is a closet, your files are stored in a shoebox and your desk is a cardboard box, it's okay.. A Virtual Assistant can help ensure that true professionalism is evident throughout your company. Quality correspondence, frequent and friendly follow-up, and first rate customer service are a few of the ways a VA can secure a professional presence for your organization, hence keeping the money coming.

4. Do the Right Thing!

If you want what they've got; do what they do! You're a successful entrepreneur, right? I bet your business card says something impressive like President, CEO, or Owner. Great! Do you work smart? Have you created a vision for your business? Do you have a Plan B prepared for the next time a potential client tells you why he doesn't need your product or service? You can't be too busy to plan. Spending your time fumbling around a keyboard, hunting and pecking your way out of a "beginning dump of physical memory" error won't bring money in the door. If you're going to call yourself a CEO, act like one! Delegate! Find yourself a Virtual Assistant, spell out your short comings, and stand back. You'll be rubbing elbows with the bigwigs in no time.

5. Customer Satisfaction.

The best way to grow is to keep your current client's happy! Have you got a great client you haven't heard from in a while? Would you like to give them a little reminder that you're available? Have your Virtual Assistant give them a call. This can pay off in several ways. First, your client will see you're not such a little guy after all. You've actually got someone working with you. Hmmm. Interesting.

Second, you took the time to have someone follow-up. You do care! Let's see. With one phone call, you've told your client you're growing, you're professional, customer service is important to you, and you want their business.

With service like this, clients will keep coming back!

Best Exercise for the Biceps

Do you want to know the best exercise for the biceps? If so, I have some bad news for you. The bad news is there is no one best exercise but there are many. In this article, I'm going to discuss the best exercises I have found that put on so much muscle that you will have to buy bigger shirts to be able to fit your arms. I will show you how to use the ez-bar, and make four exercises out of them. This ez-bar routine alone could take care of your biceps for week one. You will see how to use dumbbells along with the ez-bar and how to change it up to keep the biceps shocked.

The first exercise for the biceps I use is the wide grip ez-bar curls. This exercise will make the biceps bigger and wider in the inner area of the bicep that is close to your chest. I usually put my hands all the way to the end of the curl bar. Your hands should be wider than your shoulders to benefit from this. If this is your first time doing these, you will do them again because you will love the different pump from it. These curls are powerful and using a little leverage at the end of each set will help to get a couple of force reps out to really force the biceps to grow. Another alternative method would be to do curls on a preacher curl bench. Doing these will be even harder than doing the standing version, but it will be worth it when the biceps grow. It will be hard to cheat, which will in turn make the biceps explode.

My second exercise for the biceps are seated dumbbell hammer curls. I usually go really heavy on these. This exercise works thr muscle that sits on side of the biceps in between the bicep and the triceps. This muscle is called the brachialis and when worked correctly, it will make your arms look wider from the front. Lifting really heavy and doing low reps is the only way to make this muscle grow. I usually warm up with a 50 pound dumbbell, then increase the weight ten pounds until I get up to 100 pounds. This exercise was one of the factors that made my arms get to 21 inches. To really pump my biceps, I use the preacher curl bench for this exercise too.

My third exercise for the biceps includes the ez-bar. This time I'm using the close grip to do my curls. Using this grip will get the peaks of the biceps bigger, which gives the biceps the egg look. I use a moderate weight, and go for 10 to 15 reps to make my biceps burn. This exercise works the outer bicep, and will make the bicep wider from that angle. When I'm done doing this exercise, it's hard for me to wash my face because my arm is so pumped.

After doing close grip ez-bar curls, I move right along to doing reverse grip ez-bar curls. I normally use a shoulder hand grip and perform 4 sets of ten; increasing the weight ten pounds each set. To change it up, I might do these with a close grip and I feel it in my brachialis and my forearms.

Whitewater Rafting Forges Bonds Stronger than the Rapids

Colorado River Rafting is a Trip

Visualize the boat's brow cutting through the swirling, surging water; the sun sparkling on the frothy waves, making tiny rainbows; the abrupt lurch of the craft, as the surging waves suddenly shift direction. The adrenalin is pumping, all senses alert, with nature working overtime to orchestrate a thrill you'll never forget. That's what most people think a raft trip entails, but there's much more going on. Your connection with the other rafters forms a matchless adventure that won't be forgotten.

Rafting down the Arkansas River on the rushing snowmelt from 14,000 feet peaks is exciting - no doubt about it. But the trip is still safe enough for a family vacation. River rafting in Colorado combines thrilling rapids with quiet stretches, where rafters can take in the spectacular mountain scenery close up. Their mental cameras capture images that will be studied over and over later, once they return home.

Look Past the Surging River and the Drama

There's one thing even more crucial than the water for making your adventure tour a treasured event. It's the other people. Some you bring along, like family, friends or group (such as a scout troop). You may think you know each other already, but the time spent on the river forever alters the way you'll relate back home. That's the real pay-off from a wilderness adventure. The guides and other rafters also play essential roles in the total experience.

Unlike taking a bus or a train, the goal isn't to arrive at the destination. Instead, getting there is ALL the fun. So there's no hurry. Everyone along plays their part in moving the boats, and reacts to what the river throws at them. Each person needs to develop their sense of teamwork and reliance on each other. The emotional exhilaration amps up even more because of the sharing involved. Facing physical challenges together builds trust and confidence in each other, in a matter of hours.

Make Memories that Don't Fade

Scientists have discovered that the intensity of an emotional experience permanently alters the way a person remembers it. Emotionally charged experiences are filed differently in the brain than everyday ones are. Later, they're recalled with vivid detail, without losing clarity over time. Recalling even a small part of the event brings the full force of experience back. That's why they're called "flashbulb memories."

When people go through such powerful experiences together, they relate to each other in new ways. It's certainly a step away from their day-in, day-out routines. That's a major reason why a wilderness adventure like whitewater rafting does more for those who take the trip than a casual vacation would. They develop new ways to relate to nature and each other. Rafters tell me they arranged the trip to get away from the TV and the cell phone. But they're pleased to find that the river is the tonic for much of what's stressful for them.

Even when they get home, those newly-forged ways of relating influence the way people treat each other. As owner for Four Corners Rafting, one of the oldest whitewater rafting company on the Arkansas River, I've taken thousands of people on the outdoor adventure. Without exception, they find the experience delivered in ways that they hadn't expected. I'm often told that what they experienced during whitewater rafting was the highlight of their vacation."We visited all the other attractions, we saw all the sights. Nothing comes close!"

Step Out of Your Shoes

The benefits that rafters receive don't stop when the trip is over. We've all heard the phrase about walking a mile in someone else's shoes. That does help to understand the experiences of others with fresh awareness. But I think that greater value comes in understanding yourself better. To step into someone else's shoes, you must temporarily step out of your own. That breaks a lot of habits and familiar assumptions. Then when you return to your own shoes, you can see aspects of your life that you usually overlook because they're so unbroken.

Taking a wilderness adventure is a walk in another pair of shoes. And those people who shared that intensely emotional adventure with you took the same mind-stretching trek. That stays with you for the long haul.

Skating Injuries - The Ever Inevitable Concern

Figure skating accidents, while infrequent, are among the most memorable. Figure Skating can be potentially dangerous, just like anything else. Injuries can happen to the feet, ankles, heels, knees, shins, quads, back, hips, groin area, shoulders, arms, wrists, and head, basically anywhere. Common injuries include bruises, cuts, sprains, strains, muscle tears, tendinitis, joint injuries, sometimes fractures or even a concussion.

Some ways to prevent injuries are as follows:

-Warm up - jog in place and then do stretches. It'd be better if you did that daily instead of just when you go skating.

-Stay warm.

-Don't wear tight clothing that can restrict your movement or loose clothing that can get caught on the blades.

-Make sure you have good equipment, skates that fit and that contain good padding. Make sure the laces aren't dangling on the ice. It can make you trip.

-Learn how to fall.

-Follow rink rules. The rules are there for your safety.

-Don't try "tricks" that are way beyond your level, or dangerous.

-Don't skate when you're sick too tired.

Figure skating accidents, while infrequent, are among the most memorable.It is hard to actually count how many ice skating injuries that have occurred. However, there have been some serious ones that are worth mentioning. To name a few, some of the most serious injuries I can think of would be the one involving one of the pair skating team Tatiana Totmianina and her skating partner Maxim Marinin. In November 2004, during the free skate of Skate America in Pittsburgh, Marinin lost his balance while attempting a difficult lasso lift and Tatiana slammed to the ice head first. She had suffered a concussion, and spent the night in a local hospital. Totmianina recovered from her injuries rapidly and was able to return to the ice within days. She often stated that she has no memory of the incident and this made it easy for her to return to the ice. Marinin, however, had to start seeing a sport psychologist to overcome his fears. According to them, Marinin's fears were so great that it was nearly impossible for them to continue skating.

Another one was during the '06 Olympics when Dan Zhang had sustained a fall during their free skate. She was very brave but obviously in pain. She and her partner were able to finish their routine en route to claiming the silver medal.

Jessica Dube underwent surgery to repair a laceration on her left cheek and nose after being hit by partner Bryce Davison's skate in the free skate competition at Four Continents during the 07/08 season. They were doing a rotation of a side-by-side camel, where one leg is parallel to the ice as they spin. You can hurt any part of your body during practice.

While some injuries are unavoidable, there are some injuries that can be prevented. You might experience fewer injuries if you do off-ice training. Your trainer can help you work up a stretching routine to keep your muscles limber. Warm up off the ice each and every time before you get on the ice and afterwards. Eat a healthy diet that promotes stronger bones and muscles. Be sure you get enough rest, being tired on the ice can cause lack of focus and may cause you to slip and fall as a result. With skating, falling is just inevitable, make sure you learn to fall in the safest way possible.

Do get over your fear of falling, or your progress may be hindered Sometimes trying too hard to prevent injuries can actually cause injury because your body gets too tense. Relax when you skate. In most cases, you fall and then you get right back up again. Check with your doctor. Make sure you are ready to skate again. Go ahead and step out onto the ice. Take it slowly. It's OK to be nervous - that's normal. Just stroke around the ice - there is no need to do more, at least not in that initial first session. You may feel a bit tense and nervous if you are new to skating however. The feeling will go away as you get reacquainted with the ice. Skate with your coach. Having a coach there with you on the ice gives you more confidence.