WHAT's IN A DREAM?

          Many interpretations are discovered in any dream that we have. And in a day, we could have multiple dreams with varied characters and themes. Sometimes we dream out of fatigue, out of frustrations, out of joy or sadness and at times, dreams just get in the way out of our imaginations and control. Furthermore if we are able to learn how to befriend our dreams, then consequently we can digest multiple interesting realizations and meanings from them. Even those buried emotions are freed through our dreams since when in our waking life, we tend to set them aside and forget them. 

          However, when we go to sleep and have our dreams, these forgotten negative emotions have their way back to our waking life. Thus, no matter how we ignore them in our life yet they also have their own way of letting themselves go and one of those ways is through our dreams. 

          Here's one of the techniques in interpreting our dreams:

1. Try to recall everything in your dream.
2. Take note of all its details like persons, things, emotions (both bad and good), time etc.
3. Of all these details in your dream, focus your interest and energy on any one of them that is most striking to you now.
4. With this chosen one (for example a person), write down all significant things related to this in the dream.
5. Pertinent details will include facial expression, clothing worn in the dream, feeling emoted, variations of emotions, tone of voice so on and so forth.
6. After identifying them, check within yourself and assess their presence in your present life.
7. To do this, try to ask yourself questions such as:
           a) How could I be similar to this person in my waking life?
           b) When am I behaving like him/her in my life?
           c) Where could I identify such character in my self?
           d) Who are my dream partners?
8. When you are able to pinpoint answers to questions above, now try to identify this dream character in your life.
9. When you discover it, then you enable yourself to get hold one of its meanings.

          Just constantly remember to prepare a pen and a paper when you go to sleep. And it is very essential as well that upon waking up, write down everything that you can bring back to mind about your dream. Afterwards, go to the process of interpreting it as I enumerated above. Enjoy dreaming and learning beautiful things from your dreams. 

TIPS ABOUT HAVING LUCID DREAMS

          Dream interpretation is one area of interest to me. I have studied dreams before and from there, I gradually developed to love the world of dreams. Dreams tell us about many things about us especially those which are hidden deep inside ourselves. So many interpretations and meanings of dreams evolved as humankind continued to develop as well. One of its definitions is :  

          DREAMS are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology. Scientists believe that, in addition to humans, birds and other mammals also dream.

Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable.

Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has three to five dreams per night, but some may have up to seven dreams in one night. The dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full eight-hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming.

In modern times, dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious. They range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware. Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration. (Taken from WIKIPEDIA- the free encyclopedia)

          As such, a wide world of things engulf the world of dreams. Interpretations as well may vary from one dreamer to the other. The art of remembering one's dreams comes out of one's ability to focus his mind on the story itself of the dream. During our sessions, we were told to bring one dream in the class and if one could have a  hard time remembering and bringing a dream to class, he is asked just to bring along with him any story. From there, all of us, participants and mentors, helped in bringing related significance of the dream to the waking reality of the dreamer. Not all of us have the same capacity to dwell again on our dreams. However, experience would tell us that one's constant practice of remembering dreams enable him to bring back everything on a dream to the present moment.

                                                                    

          Yet how could we remember lucid parts of our dream? To answer this query, I would share this research done by one dream author Marc VanDeKeere. He said, 

"Increase your dream recall and write your dreams down in a journal.  You cannot have lucid dreams if you cannot remember your dreams and keeping a journal is a crucial step towards solidifying your intent.  By keeping the journal, your mind becomes saturated with the idea that dreams are important. Your dream journal will become one of the most frequently used tool sin your dreaming bag of tricks. If you have trobule recalling your dreams, then ry the following tips to increase your dream recall.  

INCREASE DREAM RECALL

Upon awakening inn the morning, do not move. Stay in bed for a while and recall your dreams before you flood your mind with everything you are going to do for the day. If you have trouble remembering them try to change your position in bed: lie on your right side for a while, then your back then left: sometimes the position you where in when you had the dream helps increase recall of that dream.   

BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR DREAMS:

Get to know the places, things, and actions you see and do in your dreams (beaches, classrooms, roller coasters etc) " this is why a dream journal is so crucial in identifying your dream signs. 

DO CONSISTENT REALITY CHECKS that is ask yourself frequently through out the  day "Am I dreaming?" Do this regularly. This constant signals ensured that one would remember the reality check. When you ask yourself if you are dreaming, check your surroundings to see if in fact you are dreaming. Try to read something like a text or a street sign. The words or letters may look unstable, or they may have the tendency to change or morph into different letters   and words entirely. Upon checking looking away and then looking back  again, if the letters have altered then it is safe to assume that you are dreaming. "

           Thus, the first step towards fulfilling a successful dream journey is to have mastered these steps to become familiar with the attributes and characteristics of one's dreams. Happy dreaming everyone.

How Could We Be Relevant To Each Other?

         When we talk about relevance, it is then essential to know how do we relate to each other. I mean there could be so many labels about relationships -some of these could just be cliche, others would be the skin- deep type and many could be so significant that we mark them deep inside ourselves. Hence, any story about human interest like when a client feels excitement upon trying a new brand or a story about a customer being so overwhelmed by the success of a brand launching is worth note taking. These are examples of basic human experiences that are entertaining and interesting to you and me. Another way could be by telling how somebody overwhelms the sting of being deprived, underprivileged or non privileged to emerge as triumphant at the end.

          When we discuss on human interests, I understand that we normally don't want facts but rather we are moved by the impact of a person's story and life on you and me. How we are affected by certain persons and events in our life is more of an imprint to us. We, human beings,   are more focused on the the experiential level--what is it that we can see, touch and feel--this then plays a significant part in our hearts and minds.

          That exactly was my experience some years back when I personally befriended somebody who lost his left arm due to an accident. When someone sees him in such a condition and who doesn't know him personally can get him wrong and would possibly conclude that he is living a desperate life. One cannot help but feel pity and remorse for his situation. In a very progressive society like Chicago, one can but feel wondering how such a handicapped person could live and survive.

         Ironically, the contrast was what I felt for him ever since the first time that I found him selling newspapers on the  side of a road. Being interested on people, I readily smiled at him and I was glad when he smiled back at me. That was the beginning of our friendship. He had a family of his own----had two sons and a wife. During the next days, he  was consistently present in his place  even during summer with its scorching heat as well as on winter when temperature dropped at times at below zero degrees. A couple of times, I chatted with him either on my way to or from our sessions. One time, I had the chance to invite him for some food and there, I learned more details of him.

         What was so striking to me in all his sharing was that he disregarded the sting of the weather whether it's winter or summer. He joyfully and consistently performed his duties  in the name of his love and concern for his family. Yes it was true that he received some assistance from  the government  yet he told me that he went on working since he was so inspired by his two sons who at that time were doing well in all their studies. Looking back on that experience, I came up with one realization that one's deprivation is not a hindrance for him/her to reach his/her dreams if he/she instills in his/her  mind and heart that everything is done in the name of love. Finally anybody who has the same positive story of winning is very much welcomed to share his/her story here.

EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY TO TODAY'S CHILDREN

          Nowadays, it is but a very common sight that children are exposed to all the latest gadgets that we have. Latest models of cell phones.formation helicopters, parrot ER Drone, etc are just some of the latest gadgets that we presently have. Personally, I believe that modern innovations have both good and bad effects on them however, today's parents as well as adults possess a very significant role in accompanying these children to present to them both the positive and negative effects of technology to our lives.

                   Moreover, no one could ever separate the present technologies with the development of our children. We as parents should be the primary contributors and models to them. As the years will go by, technology will be more advanced. If it therefore presents a very significant impact on the lives of the children, both parents and adults should also perform  their roles in a very positive way. Thus, a great challenge is thrown on them to face off squarely any negative influence of modern technology.

          As conclusion, ask yourself this question, " Have I played my role as an effective parent/adult to my children so as to positively guide them on how to use today's modern gadgets/technology?" 

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On BlogDash - my new and additional tool on blogging

          I would like to share with you my new connection on Blogdash. I chose this site since I believed this can help me in promoting my blog. Aside from that, I will also be able to connect, find, and engage with other bloggers. As such, it would then become a two-way process for me- being able to reach out to fellow bloggers and to learn from them. With the continued evolution of latest methods on gaining more positive results on one's blogs, it is very appropriate to make oneself updated with all these latest resources such as Blogdash.

http://www.blogdash.com/full_profile/?claim_code=a416f27aef1db703d13e4b9e0e05ea13


          Nowadays, numerous resources are made available for all bloggers to utilize so as to make the world of blogging more tremendous. We only need to be that capable so that we can tap to the fullest their potentials to assist us into a higher level. Moreover, hope you can also find time to check out Blogdash and for sure you will detect plenty of interesting things you can make use in this world of blogging.

My MOOMBA Festival 2013 Experience

"Event History

The first Moomba procession, March 1955

MOOMBA FESTIVAL was a 15 day festival officially opened on March 12, 1955 by Governor Sir Dallas Brooks.^[4] The inaugural programme included a fireworks display, parade, vintage car display, Henley rowing regatta, river floats including a "Lord Mayor's houseboat", cycling race, tennis at Kooyong, concerts including performances by the Victorian Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic choir, crowning of the Queen of Moomba and riverside carnival. 25,000 turned out to watch the inaugural Moomba parade down Swanston Street. The first Moomba was heavily criticised by Melbourne's conservative establishment, including the Anglican church which at the time claimed it was hedonistic and embodying social decay.^[5] Council responded to the criticism citing that Moomba was intended to be a festival for families and as such is reinforcing family values in society.

Moomba, also known as Moomba Festival, held annually in Melbourne, is Australia's longest free community festival.  And finally, the official translation of MOOMBA is "let's get together and have some fun" - Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

For this year's festival, I and my wife were lucky to have witnessed  the final day- the festival day itself. Most of the celebrations were held at river Bank, Federation Square and at the Yarra River itself.  Among the amusements were: carnival including Ferris Wheel, food stalls, various games, face painting, minute exhibit and many more. It was very evident to me that all really had a good time while participating in all events. The laughters, the shouts, the chasing of the children and the adults, everything I saw was a manifestation of the day's excitement. Moreover, I observed that everyone , old and the young alike, big and small, white and black, enjoyed the day's festivities. Therefore, Moomba united the people of Melbourne and it crossed any boundary or bias that anybody may bring within himself/herself.  

On the other hand, what I enjoyed the most was the water events in particular the Women's slalom final, the Men's slalom final, Men's long jump, and the Women's long jump. I was so delighted to witness world class performances from the finest athletes representing some parts of the world such as Florida, France, Canada and Russia.  I was in awe as I watched their breathtaking stunts and jumps. Hence putting all these positive experiences that I have for this year's Moomba festival, I could claim that I am eagerly looking forward to next year's festival. 

FASCINATING FAT FACTS

            The last time I visited my doctor, I was told to lose weight so that I can maintain a healthy lifestyle. He further mentioned that it is typical especially at this age that certain hypertensive related illnesses such as coronary heart disease (CHD) and the like occur. These disorders can be avoided through certain ways and one of them is by practicing a healthy lifestyle. Performing regular exercise, observing balanced food and diet, refraining from smoking, achieving weight loss etc. are methods of  living a healthy lifestyle.

          Reflecting on my doctor's words, I thought of extending to you this research by Rachael Hill, a Weight Loss Resources (WLR) nutritionist on fats.

"Fifteen Fascinating Fat Facts

By Rachael Anne Hill (R.P.H.Nutr)

1. We all need body fat to live. In fact, it is so essential to normal, healthy functioning that an average, size 10, slim female carries approximately 100,000 calories of fat on her body.
   
   That’s equal to 54 packs of butter in total but before you get too depressed, it’s also enough to fuel the energy required to shop for 86 days!
2. Thinking can make you fat! Brand new research, conducted at Laval University in Canada has shown that although thinking hard and concentrating doesn’t require any extra calories, it does stimulate the body to feel hungrier. 
   
   So much so in fact that volunteers of the study that were asked to carry out mentally challenging tasks went on to eat 253 more calories (almost 30% more) in just one meal than those that were told to daydream.
3. Most people gain an average of just 1g of extra body fat a day - but before you reach for that second slice of cake consider this...
   
   1 gram a day equals 365 grams of extra body fat a year. 
   
   A gain of 365g every year after the age of 25 would mean that by the time you hit your 50th birthday you’d have laid down an extra  20 lbs (almost one and a half stones) of excess body fat – or as it’s better known ...middle aged spread!
4. A typical adult has approximately 50 billion fat cells which means there are more fat cells in one human body than there are people on the earth. 
5. First the good news…fat cells generally do not increase in number after puberty so even if you gain weight the number of fat cells you have remains the same.  Now the the bad news...  Each fat cell simply gets bigger and can expand up to ten times its normal size.
6. Fat cells exist in all parts of the body except the eyelids, parts of the esophagus, the brain and the penis. 
7. Female breasts are composed almost entirely of fat which is one reason why, when dieting, they tend to reduce in size long before you lose the wobble elsewhere!
8. Spot reduction, the term used for attempting to reduce fat by exercising the muscle underneath fat deposits (such as doing sit ups to get rid of abdominal fat or thigh raises to get rid of fat stored on the hips) does not work.
   
   If it did, all gum chewers would have skinny faces! 
9. 1 pound of body fat is equal to 3,500 calories.  To burn off 3,500 calories the average woman would need to do 6 step classes, walk briskly for almost 9 hours or run for 33 miles. 
   
   To eat 3,500 calories she’d need to chomp through almost 50 apples or just two and a half Indian takeaways.
10. At 9 calories per gram, fat is the most calorific nutrient we can eat. 
    
    Alcohol contains 7 Kcals per gram.
    
    Protein and carbohydrate contain approximately 4 Kcals per gram.
11. The places you predominantly store fat and the places you lose it from first are largely determined by your gender (women tend to store it around their hips, bottom and thighs, men around their abdomen) and your genes – so choose your parents wisely! 
12. Fat cells live for an average of ten years.  Once a fat cell dies the body makes a brand new one to take its place. 
    
    However, once brain cells die they are gone for good which is why as we age we may lose our memory but love handles can stay for life!
13. Fat cells die at the rate of 150 per second. 
14. An average fat cell can only store half a millionth of a gram of fat therefore it takes 4 million fat cells to store the energy equivalent of a Tic Tac.
15. The ‘Tape Worm Diet’ is one of the craziest diets ever invented to reduce body fat. 
    Under the plan, followers simply swallow tapeworms then allow them to sit inside their intestines and dine off their dinner.
    
    Apart from the bit where you actually eat the worm and the side effects of bloating, nausea, and diarrhea there was a very real danger that the worms could lay eggs in other tissues, such as the nervous system, which could cause seizures, dementia and meningitis."

          Furthermore we need to understand better the significance of fats to our health. Maintaining fats in our body is needed yet it also has to be moderated since there is a strong risk that too much fats can cause hypertension. After all, we need to  consistently bear in mind that HEALTH IS WEALTH.

HOW TO KEEP FIT ALL THE TIME

          Our health is one of our greatest treasures in life. No matter how rich one is in terms of material possession yet if he/she is deprived of the faculties to enjoy them specifically due  to illness hence there is no sense anymore of achieving  great amount of happiness in the midst of this prosperity.

          As one author said, "To keep fit and healthy, follow a healthy and balanced diet everyday. Make sure that your everyday diet includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and protein. You should cut down on red meat, junk foods, caffeine, and sugar intake. Avoid soft drinks or canned fruit juices. Instead, opt for a variety of fresh fruits, vegetable salads, freshly made fruit juices, milk, nutritious energy drinks, etc.

          You need to be more active in order to keep fit and healthy. Modern life has become very sedentary, with fewer scopes for physical activities. You need to exercise in order to burn those calories. Minimum physical activity slows down your metabolism rate. So, you can put on weight even when you eat less. On the other hand, exercise and a more active life will burn up the calories, even when you eat a little more. You can simply go for a brisk walk, or jog, or you can join a gym. The important thing is that you must include some physical exercise in your everyday life, because fitness and health cannot be achieved without some physical exercise".

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Messruther

          Thus it is very clear that one among the many ways to stay fit is by being disciplined in our lifestyle especially with the way we take our food. We need not to be that classy so as to become healthy and fit. What we rather need is an inner will to direct and redirect ourselves to what is best for us. 

          William Messruther above clearly mentioned that we need to keep on moving everyday.....we need to practice a very active life. Avoid any temptation to be idle. Nevertheless, if we know how to be creative in our lifestyle and shun any activity that can only do us more harm then I am quite sure that becoming fit everyday is positively attainable. 

HOW DO I USE MY PERSONAL WEBSITE

          Communication is very essential to me. I would rather say that this world evolves and continue to develop by means of the vast world of communication. Basically, this is true for all may it be for human beings like us, for animals etc, there is such a mysterious world when it comes to communication. 

          Personally, one of my ways to express myself including my thoughts, my beliefs, fears, excitement, and many more is by means of my personal website done specifically through blogging. As i did research on the wide variety of the meanings of a website, I come up with the one below to share with you. 

"Personal web pages are World Wide Web pages created by an individual to contain content of a personal nature rather than on behalf of a company, organization or institution. Personal web pages are often used solely for informative or entertainment purposes.

Also often used interchangeably with the term "personal web page" are the terms; "personal web site," "personal home page," or most commonly just "home page." On technical terms, a site's actual home page (index page) often only contains sparse content with some interesting or catchy introductory material and serves mostly as a pointer or table of contents to the content-rich pages inside, such as résumés, family, hobbies, family genealogy, a blog, opinions, online journals and diaries or other writing, work, sound clips, movies, photos, or other interests.^[1] Many personal pages only include information of interest to friends and family of the author."

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

1. ^ "People's Personal Web Sites - People Tell About Themselves" ..."some great personal Web sites" -- about.com.

          Thus, blogging is my own personal expression of myself. This is my means of establishing relationship with you and others. As such, I devote a part of my everyday schedule to update my blogs. Consequently, this brings me sources of joy, fulfillment, inner peace and bonding when I succeed in coming up with new posts to be shared with all my readers. The desire to be in contact with those whom I know and those who are not yet familiar to me is that intense that spending time therefore with my personal website becomes a positive part of my day. We all have distinctive priorities in life and I would say, mine does include this desire to maintain as well as improve a constant interaction with others through various ways like blogging. 

SFI-TC BUSINESS MODEL

Another informative material regarding STRONG FUTURE INTERNATIONAL (SFI). When you read through this material, you will gain further understanding on the nature of SFI.

The SFI-TC Business Model

Strong Future International (SFI)  has more than 1.5 Million  members and increasing at a rate of 16 thousands per week. Members are earning online by doing real internet business of buying and selling more than 60 thousands products from almost 3,000 vendors from more than 200 countries.

As members, we earn commission from any product we sold outside of SFI and from the purchases of our affiliates. We also earn share from Executive Pool,  plus four other income  streams. Developing all streams of income at SFI can give us lucrative source of monthly income that builds up for years. Personally I look at SFI as my future full time income even in my retirement.

SFI utilizes two websites, www.sfimg.com and www.tripleclicks.com.

In www.sfimg.com is where affiliate marketing is happening. As incentive, the company has put up 40% of its profit as Executive Pool where all qualified members get a share according to his rank and points (called Versa Points or VP). Simply put it, the more VP you earn the bigger share you have from this executive pool.

There are requirements to be able to share from this executive pool and one of those is the 1500 min./2000 max.VP you earned from buying items from Triple Clicks. So everyone who wants to get share from Executive Pool should also buy.

This makes the system  works and sustainable. If you don't have the money to buy you must sell some items from Triple Clicks so that you earn 45% of the commission value  and use part of it for your own strategic purchase. Your best customer of course is your affiliates who also want to have a share in the executive pool.

The second website of SFI  www.tripleclicks.com is an online store where all members of SFI are also members automatically. This is where who wants to qualify for the executive pool can buy any item he likes. The best thing here is, SFI members can also sell his own products if he has, or products of other members. Even his used things  at home can also be sold at TripleClicks. Non-SFI members can also buy and sell in Triple Clicks by signing up at Triple Clicks website only.

All items in Triple Clicks are priced in three currencies, MRP, TC and in Dollars. You can earn or win MRP and TC within SFI and Triple Clicks, and you can use MRP,TC or Dollars to buy the product you like. 

Each item is also given a Commission Value (CV) in dollars. CV is the profit margin of the item where it is shared by qualified members and SFI comapny.

Each Item is also assigned Versa Points (VP) where members can earn when they buy the items. Members need this VP to qualify him to share in the executive pool.

The owner of the item of course, gets the price tag of the item and member gets 45% of the commission value (CV) of the products he sold, either to his affiliates or across the internet.

There are other exciting things inside these two websites. There are contest, draws where you can win money, TC, MRP and other valuable items as prizes. The are also games inside the Triple Clicks, and the most exciting part is the penny auction called Pricebendes where all members can participate and can buy items up to 99% off of its price.

A member has not to worry if he don't know anything. Once you signed up you can access the training materials and information worth thousands of dollars for you to learn FREE. There is also a forum where you can ask just anything about SFI.  So, the road to success is literally set-up already for anyone who is willing to learn and work towards it.

Thus if you are interested to join SFI, just click on this link:

http://www.sfi4.com/11994917/FREE

(Thanks to Ronilo Saguit, my fellow SFI member, for sharing this material through SFI)