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Life’s Echo

A son and his father were walking on the mountains.
Suddenly, the son falls hurts himself and screams: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: “AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Curious, he yells: “Who are you?”
He receives the answer: “Who are you?”
angered at the response, he screams: “Coward!”
He receives the answer: “Coward!”

He looks to his father and asks: “What’s going on?”
The father smiles and says: “My son, pay attention.”

And then he screams to the mountain: “I admire you!”
The voice answers: “I admire you!”

Again the man screams: “You are a champion!”
The voice answers: “You are a champion!”

The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: “People call this Echo, but really this is Life.

It gives you back everything you say or do.
Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.

If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.

If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.

This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life. 

Life will give you back everything you have given to it.

Author Unknown

 

REAL FOOD TECHNOLOGY

This is Mannatech’s point of difference.  The thing about REAL FOOD technology is that your body was designed to assimilate real food (der…).  Your body was not designed to assimilate rocks.  So when you take minerals in the form of finely ground rocks,  your body does  not recognise it as food and therefore cannot process and assimilate it as food.  So you have to wonder – how much good is it actually doing you?

The patented technology that Mannateh possesses enables it to deliver essential vitamins and minerals as real food – NO chemicals, NO synthetics, just real food.  Independent testing shows that what Mannatech claims is in the product IS actually in the products in the proportions claimed.  Strict quality control ensures it.

The company invests a huge amount of effort and resources into research and development – they spent over US $20 million over the last 5 years.  Mannatech owns and runs its own on-site, state-of-the-art research laboratory at their head office 600 S. Royal Lane, Suite 200, Coppell, Texas which is open to the public, no appointment necessary.  Mannatech welcomes scrutiny of  its products, their laboratories and quality control processes.  Try asking for a tour of the laboratories at another manufacturer of nutritional supplements and see how you go!

Mannatech has successfully met all requirements in the American National Standard for Dietary Supplements, NSF/ANSI 173, and obtained certification for its Ambrotose AO® antioxidant supplement. This verifies that dietary supplement products contain the identity and quantity of ingredients listed on product labels, that the products are free of any undeclared contaminants, as well as comply with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). The Ambrotose AO® capsules are one of eight Mannatech dietary supplements to earn NSF Certification.

I have posted an image below that I’m sure you will find interesting.  It shows the results of some independent product testing carried out by Covance Laboratories, at Mannatech’s request.

This data shows the % of actual ingredient, measured against the amount of that ingredient the product claims to have.  Do other products actually contain the ingredients in the amounts specified on their labels?  For non Mannatech products the answer is NO.  In some cases the tests showed the percentage to be as low as 0%.  I found that absolutely staggering!

The Australasian convention at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast in Queensland (16-18 October 2009) gave some great insight into what Mannatech as a company is all about. As Sam Caster said “It is not ‘business as usual’.” People who become involved with Mannantech do so because they can see that there is something more to this company than just a pay cheque. Mannatech associates were referred to as WELLNESS CHAMPIONS. Lives are impacted as people benefit from the products. Lives are changed as the training develops people into business leaders who achieve far more than they ever thought possible. There were many, many personal stories shared throughout the convention along these lines.

And the impact extends globally via Manna Relief – which currently offers hope, health and opportunity to 80,000 children in 80 countries around the world. Sam Caster announced a rebirth for Mannarelief in 2010. Whereas to date Mannarelief has only been supported by Mannatech associates, in 2010 it will be opened up to the wider community. He spoke of an association with Doctors Without Borders, and the surprising revelation that the biggest problem for children in third world countries was not starvation but malnutrition. The majority of the relief food that is distributed has very little nutritional value, leaving children vulnerable to disease. A chewable form of the vitamin and mineral supplement Phytomatrix has been developed. Phytoburst delivers desperately needed nutrition to children for the amazingly low cost of 16 cents per day. Imagine that – just 16 cents. As Sam said, “Your spare change can change the life of a child”.   I’ll pass along more updates about the changes to Mannarelief as they come to hand.

Queensland trip – October 2009

We had a fantastic time in Queensland.  The first thing on the agenda was an Australasian Mannatech conference at the Royal Pines Resort.  Saturday night was an Arabian dress up night with a buffet dinner and entertainment.  The conference took place the ballroom during the day, and they completely re-decorated the room in the Arabian theme within the space of two hours – I was very impressed!  They had camel rides and belly dancers and all the conference participants attended in fancy dress.

Next we went to Robina to have a look at the investment property we have owned for over two years but had never seen.  We were delighted with it, and with the town of Robina.

After that it was four days at the Super GP at Surfer’s Paradise.  Besides the V8 race cars there were Minis, Formula Fords, Classic Cars, and lots of on-track entertainment.

The day after the Super GP we returned to Surfer’s Paradise to do some shopping, and to our delight got to drive around the race track in our super-fast racy red Hyundai Getz!!!

The Simple Key to Happier Feelings

Money? Nope.

Fame? Nah.

Good looks? Nuh-uh.

None of these things paves the road to happiness.

What does? Science says you’ll have to look inside. Turns out that PERSONAL GROWTH is one of the keys to glad feelings, researchers have determined.So focus on self-improvement daily, whether it’s taking better care of your health, doing things that give you confidence, or journaling to understand yourself better.

Joyful Goal Getting Yep, we all have a fundamental psychological need to make our own choices, feel a sense of accomplishment, and connect deeply with others. Which is why personal development is ground zero for good vibrations.

And a recent study of newly graduated college students helped prove it. Those who spent their first 2 years out of school pursuing materialistic goals (think wealth, looks, and fame) were far less happy than students who achieved more intrinsic personal goals, like getting involved in their communities, nurturing close friendships, and working on inner growth.

Inner Happiness Reigns

In fact, the materialistic students’ goals actually contributed slightly to their unhappiness. So don’t go there! Instead, formulate your own personal development goals, and use these tips to help you achieve them:

Believe. Yes, you can do it! In fact, the college student study confirmed that the more committed someone is to attaining a goal, the more likely he or she will succeed.

Love. Your life, that is. It’s a gift!

Laugh. With others.

This article is quoted from the following source:  http://www.realage.com/tips/the-simple-key-to-happier-feelings.

The reason it caught my eye was the fact that it focuses on the importance of PERSONAL GROWTH.   I believe wholeheartedly in the power of personal development based on my own experience and what I have seen happen in the lives of others.

I am delighted to be an independent distributor for the Polaris Media Group.  The company is built upon the belief that, given practical education, every individual has the ability to realize their inherent potential and live a life of personal fulfillment.

Click here for more information.

WHAT IS LOVE?

What a question!  There have been many songs, poems, books and articles written on the topic, but I think the media has done us no favours when it comes to our understanding of what love is.      

When love is portrayed as something that happens to us by chance  – we “fall in love”, self responsibility is removed.  If we later “fall out of love” it is not our fault – we can’t be blamed because we didn’t choose for it to happen in the first place.

In relationships many people think that love is a feeling, and that when the feeling fades or disappears, the love is gone and they should move on.  I believe that love is more a choice than a feeling.  We can choose to act on principles rather than feelings, so we can choose to love even though we may not “feel” like it.  It is when the initial rush of being “in love” fades and we are faced with a choice as to how we behave that the work of real love can begin.

Love is also an action word.  It is not something to just reflect upon or talk about – it is something you do.  The desire to love is not love. Love is as love does.

Love has to start with self, but it is not selfish.  It is not possible to love someone else if you do not love yourself, but love which is ultimately selfish and self serving is not love at all.  True love will seek what is best for others, without ensuring satisfaction of our own desires.  And what is best for others is not what WE think is best for them.  Love gives the space and freedom for them to make those decisions for themselves.

Love encourages growth of ourselves and others.  Our unconditional love frees another from the fear of disapproval to be true to themselves and reach their highest potential.  Love  at times has to be tough.  Growth requires hard work which we would rather avoid.  Real love does not facilitate the stagnation of our own or another’s development, but confronts, encourages and supports growth.

So I think love is a choice, an action, which starts with self and encourages growth.  You may disagree with me.  It is not easy to define love.  There is a definition by M Scott Peck in his book “The Road Less Travelled” which I really like.  It is:

I define love thus:  The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.

The next 16 chapters of his book expand upon his definition.  It makes for very good reading.

Please share with me your response to the question:  What is love? by leaving a comment below.

PS:  I am delighted to be an independent distributor for the Polaris Media Group.  The company is built upon the belief that, given practical education, every individual has the ability to realize their inherent potential and live a life of personal fulfillment.  To find out more:  Click here

Polaris Media Group

In my last blog I talked about how success is a choice.  Polaris Media Group puts the tools in your hand to help you make it.  See the video below:

Polaris Media Group: Achieving Success – kewego
Polaris Media Group is an international community of successful men and women who believe in social responsibility through entrepreneurism and developing highly motivated, self-sufficient, and successful people. Our goal is instilling competence through the application of proven entrepreneurial principles. Creating effective media products and events fulfills our passion to reveal the true nature of the human spirit. Join us in Australia,

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SUCCESS IS A CHOICE

I think there are a lot of people who would argue with me on that. They think success is something that happens to them, if they are lucky.

Some people consider themselves really unlucky and believe that success will never come to them. People who think of themselves as not being successful usually have plenty of reasons why. Perhaps it’s because …………

* I don’t live in the right location
* It’s a consequence of the way my parents brought me up
* I haven’t received the recognition I deserve
* the opportunities have just not been there for me
* ___________ won’t cooperate with me
* (you fill in the blank)

Just think for a moment – are these really reasons, or are they excuses? Do you know of ANYBODY who has succeeded despite “living in the wrong location”? Anybody who has succeeded despite the way their parents raised them? Anybody who has gone on to succeed despite not having gained recognition for their efforts? So are these things reasons why we can’t be successful, or obstacles to be overcome on the way to success?

What is success anyway? Is it having a certain level of income, having a particular type of car, living in a fantastic house? A lot of people have those things but are not happy.

While success is usually tied to an achievement or a material acquisition, success is not the actual thing, but it is really the FEELING that those things represent. For example, you train hard, you win a race. You put the trophy on the shelf. Every time you look at it, you feel great. Is it the trophy itself that makes you feel great? No, it is the achievement it represents. You look at the trophy, remember what it took to win it and FEEL a success energy.

So if success is a feeling, then success is also a CHOICE. You can choose how you feel. (If you are not convinced of that it is another whole topic that I’m not going into right now.) If success is a feeling you can teach yourself to feel successful every minute of every day. Focus on your successes, build the success energy in your life. Remember that you get more of what you focus on, so more success will come your way.

CHOOSE SUCCESS, don’t wait for it to magically happen to you.

PS:  I am delighted to be an independent distributor for the Polaris Media Group.  The company is built upon the belief that, given practical education, every individual has the ability to realize their inherent potential and live a life of personal fulfillment.  Find out more:  Click here

What is an OBESOGENIC environment?

I first saw this term yesterday in a report by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing, called Weighing it up: Obesity in Australia.  I had not heard it before and wasn’t sure what it meant.

So I searched for and found this definition:

“A strange-looking word, it comes from obese plus the ending -genic, something tending to generate or create. It refers to conditions that lead people to become excessively fat — a worrying trend in developed countries, especially among young people, who are eating too much of the wrong things and not taking enough exercise. The problem is variously put down to social causes (too many sedentary pursuits available; fear that the outdoors in cities is dangerous, leading to less cycling, walking and running about) or to the results of our consumer lifestyle (eating pre-prepared meals that contain excessive sugar and fats). The term seems to have appeared in the last decade and is not as yet mainstream, though it is increasingly turning up in newspapers and medical journals.” Source: http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-obe1.htm

The Weighing it up: Obesity in Australia report says this about an obesogenic environment:

Societal changes have created an environment where we are time poor, rely on cars, walk less and have increased access to convenience foods. Maintaining healthy weight has ceased to be a by-product of everyday life, and instead has become a personal project requiring constant vigilance and resistance to widespread cultural and social patterns. (summarised from page 140)

That is true, isn’t it? Our whole way of life is geared towards making us unhealthy, and optimal health is something we have to consciously and actively pursue.

The Weighing it up: Obesity in Australia report also referred to a UK study, the Foresight Tackling Obesities: Future Choices – Project report which can be found at http://www.foresight.gov.uk/Obesity/17.pdf

Here is a quote from Future Choices:

“The common perception is that if only people ate less and did more, the problem of obesity would be solved. The evidence …. shows that this deceptively simple analysis masks the real challenge of achieving that solution. There is an underlying complexity to obesity, which means that tackling it will be difficult and will require a multifaceted approach. Obesity is the consequence of interplay between a wide variety of variables and determinants related to individual biology, eating behaviours and physical activity, set within a social, cultural and environmental landscape.” (page 84)

The Future Choices project report contains a very interesting obesity system map, which attempts to show diagrammatically the complex relationships between the myriad of factors that lead to obesity and the implications for intervention. (Refer to pages 89 and 94 of the report) An examination of these factors shows that many of them are in fact beyond our control – we are immersed in an environment which is making it increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle – an obesogenic environment.

However, my take on it is that the situation is not hopeless. A wellness revolution is happening. People are taking responsibility for their own health, and I believe that the demands of many individuals with a common purpose will force changes to government policy, infrastructure, food growing, processing and sales methods, media and advertising, and medical interventions. The fact that we live in an obesogenic environment does not render us powerless to achieve optimal health for ourselves, but it does explain why it can sometimes be such a battle!!

Let me encourage you that YOU are the power in your world. I believe You CAN achieve your health and wellness goals.

It is part of my life’s purpose to help you achieve success

Please leave me your comments on what makes it difficult for you to achieve optimal health – whether they are internal or external influences.  I’d like to do a future article based on the input I receive.

HAPPINESS

Have you heard this excellent quote:

Success is getting what you want.  Happiness is wanting what you get – Dale Carnegie

Do you want to be successful?  Do you want to be happy?  Will one necessarily lead to the other?

When parents are asked what they most want for their children, the response is often “I just want them to be happy”.  I certainly feel that way.  Whatever career my boys choose, if they are happy in what they are doing, then I’m happy with that.   Success is different things to different people.

Much has been written about what happiness is and how you attain it.

David Lykken of the University of Minnesota is the proponent of a set-point theory of happiness, which argues that one’s sense of well-being is part determined by genetics and part determined by circumstances. His research findings suggest that a person’s baseline levels of cheerfulness, contentment, and psychological satisfaction are largely a matter of heredity. Happiness is not tied to our external circumstances.

His studies showed that six months following the event, people who had either won the lottery or become a paraplegic returned to their former level of happiness.  I was stunned to hear that, as I thought those life changing events would change you, or at the very least that the effect would last longer than six months.

More evidence that happiness does not arise from our external circumstances is found in a study of happiness levels from around the world where Denmark was at the top of the list — but you might be surprised at how many countries with awful conditions were ahead of richer ones (the United States was number 23). It is difficult to draw conclusions from the data.  Whatever factors are noted in “happy” countries, there are examples of happiness among people who don’t share those factors. This suggests that not only are things not the key to happiness, but neither are conditions or circumstances.

Here’s a simple example: There is a poor man who is hungry and alone, yet he is happy. There is a rich man who has all the money, medical care, food, and friends he needs, and yet he is depressed. This is a true story repeated all over the world. Of course there are happy rich people and unhappy poor people too. But the fact that some people in “miserable” circumstances can have more peace of mind and contentment than some who have everything the world has to offer seems to affirm the notion that happiness is not to be found in our external circumstances.

So that leaves us with only one direction in which to search: inward.

Don’t listen to your mind when it suggests to you that “Once I have (fill in the blank) I’ll be happy.”  You may indeed be happy for a short while, but then a new desire will arise and so on, and happiness will be some elusive future thing that cannot be grapsed and enjoyed in the present.

Look inward.  You don’t need anything “out there” to be happy.  Everything you need is within you.  I encourage you to go within and find it.

To your success (in getting what you want and wanting what you get).