Tag: Advanced

  • 6 Bad Habits That Affect Baseball and Softball Hitters

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    One of the most common complaints from players is the lack of power behind the plate. No matter what philosophy of hitting you believe in, none of them will help you reach your greatest potential if these top 6 bad habits are not stopped in their tracks. This is true for baseball and girls’ softball. If you have any of these bad habits, ridding yourself of them will automatically increase power and bat speed.

    Smushing the Bug

    If you were taught to smush the bug, you have dug yourself into a hole. Smushing the Bug involves a small muscle movement that reduces power and bat speed. Some hitters are taught to twist or turn their back foot to create more bat speed and power in the swing. Nothing can be farther than the truth. Additionally, it is nearly impossible for you to hit middle or outside pitches with the sweet spot of the bat if you have a spinning back foot problem. A sure pop out! This is the most major of these six diseases because it also throws off your balance. This bad habit needs to be fixed right away, but it’s not easy.

    Correction: Try swinging the bat while your back foot is planted flat on the ground. See if you can swing without moving your back heel off the ground. Also, it may be helpful to work on hitting outside pitches off of the tee. This will help you hit from your heels and keep that foot from spinning too soon.

    Bat Wrapper

    This common bad habit affects batters who were trained in the “back elbow up” theory. If your back elbow goes up when getting your weight back, the bat will start to wrap around your head and throw off the timing of the swing, ultimately adversely effecting power and bat speed.

    Correction: In your stance, bring the elbow down right away. If this doesn’t work and your elbow keeps popping up, lay the bat back in your top hand when you move your hands and weight back. This should help prevent the bat from wrapping around your head. You should iron this out by practicing this correction technique until you’re confident that the habit is broken. This disease is most likely going to keep coming back, so monitor it and drill it out of your system!

    Back leg collapse

    This disease is pretty serious and must be addressed. When that back leg collapses, you lose all of the power in your big muscles, and your eyes and head do too much bobbing. This type of batter pops out a lot!

    Correction: Stay as tall as possible in your stance and when swinging the bat for power.

    If that doesn’t work, do some swinging drills where you swing off your back leg only. If it collapses, you’ll fall down swinging. Remember, stay tall and hit the ball!

    Head Diver

    This player was led to believe that if he dives his head near the contact zone, he’ll see the ball better. This action causes your eyes to move off the ball path and throws you off balance. It also locks up the large muscles and prevents power and bat speed production.

    Correction: Concentrate on thrusting your back muscles. If you’re a head diver, you’re trying too hard to hit the ball with your eyes instead of letting your body bring your hands to the ball. “Crack your back” and keep your head behind the ball. It is nearly impossible to have any kind of power or bat speed when you are off balance. Once you contact the ball, remember that it’s OK to let your head come off of the ball for a complete follow-through!

    Bent Lead Arm

    If hitters’ are swinging slightly up and popping up often, you can look to see if their lead arm is bending too much at the start of their swing. This problem is rare, but easy to fix.

    Correction: All you need to do is concentrate on keeping the lead arm straighter when starting your swing. Most advanced or experienced hitters will not have this problem, but it’s something to be aware of. Remember; only make adjustments when the ball is not flying like it should in batting practice. If you’re hitting rockets and your lead arm bends a little, then who cares? In the swing, the lead arm will usually straighten at first and then possibly bend at contact depending on pitch location (Especially the low pitch).

    Twister

    The hitter who twists his upper torso while getting his weight back before he swings will have problems hitting the ball. There is way too much eye movement and upper body movement when the hitter has this problem. This throws your timing and swing path out of synch.

    Correction: This is a rare disease that can be cured by religiously practicing getting your weight back without turning your shoulders. Your hands should move straight back without the shoulder turning much. It makes a big difference!

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    Source by Mike Huber

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  • Book Summary: Tax-Free Wealth – How to Build Massive Wealth by Tom Wheelwright

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    I was lucky as a kid to have my father as a business mentor. When the time came and I entered the business world, I could not lean on him as he passed away young. The Rich Dad / Poor dad books were my saving grace when it came to financial education. Several of the concepts I knew about because of my father but the advanced strategies and the “how to” really came from the Rich Dad books. Tom is a Rich Dad advisor.

    Why is this important to me?

    I am not doing this summary to waste your time. It is my vision to provide concise action steps that you can adopt right now to enhance your financial life and career. If you want to continuously improve, you have to be committed to continuous learning. Lever the continuous learning with the right associations and you will succeed in your career.

    The Cash flow quadrant really sums up the essence of financial success. If you focus on the left side of the quadrant then you can make an OK income but if you focus on the right side then you can become rich. Robert Kiyosaki points out in Rich Dad / Poor Dad that the left sides of the quadrant people make money, pay tax and then spend it. On the right side of the quadrant people make money, spend it and then pay their taxes. This is a huge difference and can be the biggest success lever in your financial arsenal.

    Tax-Free Wealth points out 24 Tax Strategies you can use on your way to Tax-Free Wealth. For the sake of time I will point out a few along with some commentary about each.

    1. Rule # 1 – It is your money, not the governments. People tend to run scared when it comes to taxes. Remember that you are the one creating the value and making the business work, be smart and utilize tax strategies to minimize tax and maximize your investment. The key here is tax avoidance NOT tax evasion. Every concept in this book is totally legal and encouraged by the IRS.

    2. Rule # 2 – The Tax Law is written to permanently lower your taxes. All financial plans need a solid foundation. This is why you simply can NOT focus on rate of return only. You can make a huge rate of return but if you can lose it because of a law suit or 50% gets eaten up in taxes then you will lose in the long run. 99% of the tax code is written as incentives to encourage people to start business. The reason the government does this is because businesses create jobs and that is the single biggest economic driver.

    3. Rule # 3 – The fastest way to put money in your pocket is to reduce your taxes. Businesses require investment. That investment is a business expense along with R&D, Travel and other business related expenses. You can combine vacation and work legitimately and write it off as a business expense. If you travel and sell items then go on sales calls in the vacation area. If you are a real-estate investor then travel where you may invest.

    4. 4. Rule # 24 – Build massive passive income through your tax savings. This is the strongest wealth builder in the book because you lever up compound interest, velocity of money and leverage. Utilizing these three vehicles along with investment stacking and you will be rich. The goal is to build your business and make the money there and turn it into passive income and then park the added money into cash flow investments like real estate. You want your money working harder than you do. You do not want to trade hours for dollars. Let me give you an example.

    In our software company there are two ways to build wealth and that is through intellectual property and maintenance agreements. These two things used together will build a company that can be sold for 2-4X revenues. Now to foster that investment with leverage, I use the “Infinite Banking Concept” to lend money to the business through “my own bank.” Now the money the business pays me comes back as investment income which means lower taxes. The new revenue the additional maintenance contracts bring foster new contracts. The next step is to use “good debt” to leverage our coverage and purchase more maintenance contract revenue with our software platform.

    In summary, you make money in your business and hold it in passive income generating assets using good leverage, velocity of money and compound interest.

    Tax-Free Wealth is a great resource that I encourage you to read. If you immerse yourself in these concepts, financial security and true wealth can be yours.

    I hope you have found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes habit. Habits form in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is lever your financial education. If you take control of your education and schedule 30 minutes per day dedicated to this then you will reap results. You cannot put your financial future in the hands of somebody else. Take on the responsibility and good things will happen.

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    Source by Joe Mosed

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  • Home Health Care Equipment

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    Home health care equipment makes it possible for people to be directly involved in maintaining their own health care. Medical devices, tools and technologies designed specifically for home use are becoming more and more popular because of their convenience and their user-friendly nature. Innovations in home health care equipment include “smart” devices that significantly lower the amount of machine maintenance necessary. Many are also wirelessly connected to the Internet, which aids in providing efficient, monitored service.

    Convenience and reduced health care costs are some the more important elements that make home health care equipment popular among patients. People with certain conditions which need strict monitoring no longer need to confine themselves to hospitals because there are devices which can now monitor patients in the comfort of their own homes. These devices are geared towards teaching people to monitor themselves and their conditions through the use of tools that can give warnings and signs concerning their health. This could mean more efficient and effective health care, contributed to by patients who have more control over his/her condition.

    Home health care equipment sales have been steadily increasing based on customer demand for these innovations and advances. More and more, medical home devices are being designed and produced to cater to various medical needs. A lot of these new devices are very innovative and advanced. Soon to come are toothbrushes that can check one’s blood sugar and bacteria levels while brushing, that even comes with a holder that transmits information directly to the person’s medical file. People can soon expect heart monitors that can be connected to computers, making it convenient for people to monitor their own heart rates and other vital information which can easily be transmitted to their doctors via the Internet.

    Another popular advancement in home health care is the use of video devices for telemedicine. Video equipment used in telemedicine offer high-resolution images and audio that are much better than what computer phones and telephone lines can offer. There are even telemedicine devices which include a blood pressure cuff, a stethoscope and a thermometer, aside from the monitor which directly transmits vital information to the owner’s health care provider.

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    Source by Kevin Stith

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  • How Does Relationship Building Techniques Build Your MLM Business?

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    Relationships are key in life, without them; life would be so boring. MLM marketing is based on creating strategic relationships between teammates and the audience of the individual business. This means that one has to work carefully to build trust and authority with the target market. By doing so with authoritative content and reliable timing, relationships will blossom and grow. Thus, creating a pipe line to send dedicated content towards motivated prospects. Failing to create elementary content not only discredits the publisher, but also kills all sales potential. Let’s open the door to relationship building techniques that will help.

    Create content that doesn’t sell but builds your reputation

    Never push content that sells, this is a horrible practice for MLM marketing. Create content that builds your business reputation up. This means promoting content that entertains or has a high level of educational value. There are so many businesses out that already overly pushes sales content, there is no need for you to do the same. Your marketing content is supposed to be attractive, not repulsive. This means every blog, article, eBook or landing page must educate through problem solving of some degree. There are ways to get sales, but to do so, one must push the agenda of their prospects first.

    To build relationships in MLM marketing, the content that is needed will vary. You will need basic content that covers a general situation to content that absolutely solves a specific problem. This is how you define your leads, by sharing all types of educational content. Your prospects will not always be in the same boat as the next person. So, to be effective, you must share content that targets symptoms first, then develop content that nails down some of the symptoms and then finally offer the cure through the final. The last content you can develop is the follow up content that offers advanced material to help the prospect go beyond the basic package.

    Specialize by focusing on your prospects growth

    Help your prospects grow in some fashion. This can be in life, or some other area that you have specialized skills in. In this capacity, your relationships are more specific and narrowed down in which the others in your area cannot touch. Lead by example, offer free and premium content for your visitors and subscribers. This will distract your prospects enough to keep them engaged. Not all of your content will be successful, so the smart marketer will always engage in analytics to help sort the weeds from the wheat and develop themselves and their content for the successful campaign. These techniques have enabled many new marketers to climb the ladder and enjoy an effective business.

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    Source by David L. Feinstein

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  • Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine – Know the Differences

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    It isn’t unusual to use the terms sports medicine and physical therapy interchangeably. However the two aren’t exactly the same things even though you may find yourself the patient of both fields at the same time.

    While compatible, the difference between the two branches of medical discipline is clear. Both are effective for treating injuries, diseases and disorders of the muscle and skeletal systems of the body and both are useful for the prevention of future injury or disease symptom reoccurence. By taking an individual look at both types of medical assistance, you will soon see the differences between physical therapy and sports medicine.

    Let’s take a look at the field of physical therapy first. Unlike sports medicine, physical therapy as a whole is devoted to correcting any injury, disease, or disorder of the bones and muscles that can be treated with non invasive techniques. The focus is to provide patients with relief from pain, improve their muscle, joint, and bone function, while providing techniques the patient can use on their own for additional healing. The primary tools of a therapist are good diagnosing and evaluating skills, knowledge of the musculoskeletal system, and knowledge of which therapy is effective for each situation.

    One large difference between the two is that physical therapy doesn’t only deal with sports related injuries or problems. Physical therapists can choose to specialize in their careers with emphasis on things like pediatrics, geriatrics, and neurology. Other areas of expertise included in physical therapy are sports, cardiovascular sciences, and occupational therapy.

    When you are looking at the differences between these two healing arts you certainly can’t overlook sports medicine. The type of medical discipline is solely used for sports related injuries and disorders. While sports physical therapy techniques are commonly used in addition to sports medicine, sports medicine may involve surgeries, procedures, and medications not used in physical therapy. Sports medicine practitioners also can have specialty fields as well. Orthopedics and skeletal emphasis are common. Advanced study of how long term sporting activities and treating sports related injuries are always a part of this particular discipline.

    Understanding the difference between physical therapy and sports medicine may be key to determining how to best treat your physical problem. While they can and are commonly used together, each one has its own distinct benefit. Your medical care team can further help distinguish the two and point you in the right direction in terms of your health care needs. The important thing is take care of any injury, sports related or not, to ensure your body’s function in the years to come.

    The difference between these two medical approaches is obvious. Although the two are often used together, each one has its own purpose and uses. Your doctor can give you advice on which specialist is right for your needs.

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    Source by John Groth

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  • How Smoking (Drug Abuse) and Drinking (Alcohol) Affects Your Academic Performance

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    One day, Barack’s mother, Ann Dunham marched into his room, wanting to know the details of Pablo’s arrest. “Don’t you think you are a little casual about your future?” she asked. “What do you mean? he responded. “Bar, you know exactly what I mean. Your friend Pablo was just arrested for drug possession, and your grades are slipping. You haven’t even started on your college application.”

    Barack Obama was a serious and brilliant student before he gained admission into Punahou School, Honolulu. In this school, he joined the “Choom gang”. It was a self-named gang that spent time together drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and sniffing cocaine. Drugs made the choom gang popular in school. His relationship with the choom gang prospered, but his academics suffered. Drugs and alcohol made him lose focus. All he thought about was how to get high. He and his friends Ray, Pablo, Mark and others exhausted their time devising simply ways of doing drugs, which include total absorption (TA), the antithesis and the choomwagon. Reading was difficult because he was always high and confused. Indeed, he was heading towards becoming a junkie.

    His performance in school was a mess. Barack’s mother was right. His grades were going down every term. He was not even bothered about admission to college. All he thought was drugs because it was part of him. Truly, his friend Pablo was arrested by the police for drug possession.

    When pressure from his mum and his poor performance became unbearable, he thought about not going to college. Nevertheless, Barack’s mother kept encouraging him. She always told him that he could get into any school in the country if he just put in a little effort. Within him, he knew that the “effort” he needed was to quit drugs.

    He managed to graduate without mishap and was admitted into Occidental College in Los Angeles. Even without the choom gang around, Barack continued his drug escapade. To continue his education, Barack was transferred to Columbia University, New York.

    In New York, he decided to stop getting high. For the first time in years, Barack applied himself to his studies. He regained his love and strength for reading. Reading and understanding became easy because he was focused and at alert always. Barack began to trace out his future. It became clear that he had been wasting his precious time on drugs. He attended class regularly and soon graduated with good grades.

    “Using drugs and alcohol was a seriously misguided mistake. It was my greatest moral failure that could have destroyed my future. Maybe if I had not stopped doing drugs, I might have dropped out of school and wouldn’t have become the 44th President of the United States”, he once said.

    Lesson

    Drug and alcohol use on campus is universal. Students articulate many reasons why they do it, but most neglect to consider the academic and long-time consequences of their actions. Some are compelled to use drugs at social gatherings either because everyone else seems to be doing it or they believe it’s the cool thing to do. Others feel that drug and alcohol abuse offers an escape away from school or work-related stress, financial worries or relationship problems. Some feel that alcohol and drug abuse provide a way to compensate for feelings of shyness or low esteem.

    According to one study, 90% of teens said they have used alcohol; 50% have used marijuana; 17% have used cocaine, and 13% have used some form of hallucinogenic drugs. Drug use has been classified as a major problem of students as early as in primary 4. A recent report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration suggests that adolescents who receive grades of D or below are more likely than those in good academic standing to have recently used cigarettes, alcohol and/or other illicit drugs.

    The new research is part of a large-scale study of health and development conducted in New Zealand. Researchers administered IQ tests to over 1,000 individuals at age 13 (born in 1972 and 1973) and assessed their patterns of cannabis use at several points as they aged. Participants were again tested for IQ at age 38, and their two scores were compared as a function of their marijuana use. The results were striking: Participants who used cannabis heavily in their teens and continued through adulthood showed a significant drop in IQ between the ages of 13 and 38-an average of 8 points for those who met criteria for cannabis dependence. (For context, a loss of 8 IQ points could drop a person of average intelligence into the lowest third of the intelligence range.) Those who started using marijuana regularly or heavily after age 18 showed minor declines. By comparison, those who never used marijuana showed no declines in IQ.

    Researchers studying the effects of alcohol use on the brain are aided by advanced technology such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), position emission tomography (PET) and electrophysiological brain mapping (EBM) showed that long-term heavy drinking lead to shrinking of the brain which impairs learning, memory formation and retrieval. That is why most times we read and forget within a short period.

    The process of generating new brain cells (i.e., neurons) is called neurogenesis. High level of alcohol leads to a disruption in the growth of brain cells. The decline of the number of brain cells leads to problems in learning and behaviour. The number of brain cell a student possesses determines his level of understanding. A student who has a higher amount of brain cells will do better academically.

    Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is an essential nutrient required by the brain. Up to 80% of alcoholics have a deficiency in thiamine, which may lead to memory loss and mental confusion. It might also affect your attention and concentration. Substance abusers easily get distracted; misplace things, forgetting to keep appointments and so on. As the brain continues to adapt to the presence of the drug, regions outside of the reward pathway are also affected. Brain regions responsible for judgment, learning, and memory begin to physically change or become “hardwired.” Learning, reading, and comprehension becomes difficult because the brain had been wired to focus on alcohol.

    Alcohol can produce detectable impairment in memory after only a few drinks and as the amount of alcohol increases so does the degree of impairment. Large quantity of alcohol can produce a blackout or an interval of time for which the intoxicated person cannot recall key details of events or even an entire event. Think about how much study time you have lost because you were too hung-over the next day to go to class. Drug abusers oversleep and are always tired.

    Severe Hallucination is another problem faced by drug users. Most times they lose touch with realities during lectures or examination. Physically they are in class but mentally they are somewhere else. Academics requires both physical and mental alertness. Therefore, a “high” students can attend lecture but will derive nothing because he was busy building castles in the air. Hallucination leads to academic failure.

    Everyone who became a drug or alcohol addict started with “let me taste or try it.” Smoking cigarette or Indian hemp or drinking alcohol is not a sign of “big boy or big girl”. It is not a sign of maturity but immaturity. You should not please your company by abusing drugs or alcohol. Drugs and alcohol are slow poisons. It solves no problem, if you get high because of financial stress, relationship problems, shyness or peer pressure, after some minute, you will get low and the problem will still be there.

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    Source by Anyaehie George Kelechi

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  • A Review of the Multi Level Marketing International Association Or MLMIA

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    The Multi Level Marketing International Association or MLMIA domain was registered in January of 1997. This is an authority website in the Network Marketing Industry that has been around for a very long time. The website origins seem to originate from Irvine, CA and Las Vegas, NV. However the company says they have been around for the last 25 years although before 1996 they operated primarily offline. They are the official association for Network Marketing Worldwide. Their Goal is to strengthen Multi Level Marketing all over the world.

    The Multi Level Marketing International Association or MLMIA serves its members in all 3 major segments of the Network Marketing Industry. Firstly they serve all Network Marketing Companies who sell goods or services through Distributorships. They also support all Distributors who sell these goods and services. Finally they support all the support companies who provide all these goods or professional services to these two groups just mentioned.

    The MLMIA classifies themselves as a non profit trade organization. Their goal is to keep the Network Marketing Industry clean and are committed to keeping up with the advancements that occur within MLM today. This company has been founded and managed since 1985 by very successful people in Network Marketing. The main goal of the Multi Level Marketing International Association is the protection, support and promotion of individual MLM Opportunities. As a member, their goal is to continually educate you on what it will take to succeed in Network Marketing.

    They do this by providing Advanced Industry Related Education which includes Annual Conferences. A membership with them also includes Authority Articles by some Network Marketing Industry experts. You will also have the opportunity to attend National and International Conferences. This is a great place to network and meet brand new people. This service also offers Industry Trade Shows and will even give you internet exposure. The Multi Level Marketing International Association or MLMIA also works with Accredited Colleges and Universities on the subjects of selling, marketing as well as entrepreneurship.

    Once you get to the MLMIA website, they have a free newsletter you can subscribe to as well as a free audio you can listen to. They also can connect you to resources that will allow you to better compete out there in this tough industry. One of the most exciting functions of this organization is their Annual Convention and Expo which is offered in the spring of each year. Industry participants from all around the world come here to hear about industry trends.

    At the Multi Level Marketing International Association Annual Convention & Expo you Industry Participants will get educated on important topics that will affect your success within the coming year and to network with your peers in a warm, friendly atmosphere. You will be able to grill your fellow Network Marketers and find out what’s working and what’s not working for them.

    People enjoy getting educated by professionals and peers alike. They enjoy motivational messages as well as learning techniques that will increase their techniques by top Distributors around the world. No sponsoring or solicitation is permitted during these events. They also have other upcoming events like their annual Golf Tournament like play and dinner which will only set you back $100.00.

    From what we can see this organization has been around for a while and have definitely put in their stripes. They get the Kings thumbs up and we have nothing but respect for this outstanding organization.

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    Source by Brian Garvin

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  • How to Deal With the Dilemmas of Gay Dating

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    Unhappy relationships, fights and breakups can mess up your mind and discourage you from dating again. But, one bad relationship doesn’t mean that you are not going to date anyone ever again. Look around, there are men out there who are just like you, and they’ve had breakups and broken hearts too. The moment you find the one who is truly in love with you, it will make you forget all those failed attempts.

    And when you do find a perfect match, many of you might have dilemmas that can break your burgeoning relationship. For this reason, you need to know what those gay dating dilemmas can be and what you can do to avoid them.

    ‘Let go’ of the past

    Every gay man has stories about ‘coming out’, childhood, parents, fear and broken hearts. But don’t let things that happened in the past affect your present or future. It was a thing of the past, so use it as knowledge & wisdom. Give a fresh and healthy start to your new relationship.

    Expensive dates when you are in different income brackets

    The difference in income can become a major cause of breakups. You have a higher income and want to plan expensive dates, and you’re ready to make all the payments. But this can sometimes offend the other person and you don’t even realize. So, you need to keep the other person’s feelings in mind and plan accordingly.

    Be a fearless gay dating guy

    First of all, you need to be yourself, one who is not afraid of dating. Even if you try to show that you are a fearless gay dating guy, if he feels that you are afraid, it means you probably really are. So, get things clear in your mind before you start dating as breaking someone’s heart isn’t good for either of you.

    Express your feelings

    Don’t hide your feelings from the person you love. Express your feelings but if you think you still need to wait for the right time, then do! Sometimes though, there is no right time to express your love, every moment is right, so just open up and don’t leave it too late. Today, a number of online sites offer gay dating tips, so take their help.

    Stop comparing

    You are special, unique, and nobody can compete with you. Stop comparing yourself with your boyfriend’s ex or anyone else as it will lead you nowhere and will just ruin your relationship.

    Communication is key

    Yes, when dating someone, you need to have adequate communication with each other. Whether you prefer to communicate via text, or calls, or in person, make sure that you have healthy conversations with each other. Also, if your mate prefers to talk over a call while you want to communicate via texts, there’s no harm picking up his call, rather than creating unwanted turmoil in a relationship.

    Be honest & open up in a genuine way

    Don’t just presume you’ll be able to be intimate with a new person on your very first date. Take your time, understand each other and then discuss if you can move further in your relationship. Only if the other person is comfortable, go ahead and make love.

    Today’s technologically advanced world helps you find a perfect match sitting at home. A number of online gay dating sites will help you search for a compatible match the easy way. Moreover, these sites sometimes also provide gay dating tips so that you can have a healthy and happy relationship.

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    Source by Sarah Scott

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  • How Our Lifestyle Choices Are Causing Us to Sink Into Chronic Illness

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    Current science continues to demonstrate that the reason we move away from health and develop chronic illness is due to our environment rather than our genes. Less than 1% of chronic illness is truly genetic in nature. Essentially, this means that chronic illness is preventable.

    Yet over half of the American population has been diagnosed with a chronic illness and nearly 80% of all health care spending (doctors’ visits, prescriptions, hospitalizations, etc.) is a result of these conditions of lifestyle.

    This number is expected to rise astronomically over the next few years. In fact, many say this single problem will bankrupt our nation. Interesting. It’s particularly interesting since science tells us this is completely preventable!

    What are chronic illnesses? The list includes conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, infertility, autoimmune issues and disorders, Alzheimer’s, dementia, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, acid reflux, constipation, insomnia, decreased sex drive, and so on.

    With a list this expansive, it’s hard to imagine how we could possibly prevent these conditions from developing in the first place. They seem so unrelated. In order to understand our role in preventing chronic illness, first we must have a simple understanding of how chronic illness develops as a result of our environment.

    To explain how our lifestyle and environment relates to chronic illness, I’d like to share with you a visual that Dr. James Chestnut, B.Ed., M.Sc.,D.C.,C.C.W.P. of The Wellness Practice in Victoria, B.C. teaches. Imagine that when your life begins you are born into a pool of water. You have two items on you: inflatable water wings and an empty backpack.

    Your water wings have been inflated for you, but they have a very slow leak. The air in them is expected to last 120 years (the “healthy” human lifespan). As the air leaks out of them, you have less time left. It’s called getting older! If there’s no interference to these water wings, they’ll last you all 120 years.

    Each time you make a lifestyle choice that is incongruent with your innate genetic requirements for health, you add a “rock” to your backpack. Our blueprint for health and optimal function requires purity and sufficiency in the way we eat, move and think. This means, giving our bodies exactly what’s required for optimal health (purity) and providing enough of it (sufficiency).

    No where in our blueprint for optimal function do we find toxic and deficient choices of lifestyle. Toxicity and deficiency are incongruent with homeostatic cell function. Therefore, it’s these toxic and deficient choices that become the rocks in your backpack.

    These rocks (stressors) can come from any area of lifestyle: poor nutritional choices, sedentary living, being overweight, being chronically stressed out, having unhealthy relationships, taking toxic drugs, not feeling loved or appreciated, excessive negative stimuli, having poor posture, smoking or exposure to smoke, not enough time outside, and so on.

    So many of our toxic and deficient lifestyle choices are the direct result of an industrialized, “advanced” society. It’s hard to argue that we’re “advanced” in the area of health and wellness when we’re experiencing drastic increases in chronic illness in all age groups, despite our “advanced” efforts to treat these conditions.

    The rocks slowly sink us. They have a cumulative effect on our health over the years. At first, we may not notice. Eventually, we may realize that our day to day life has become more stressful and more of a struggle. Often, we’re not even sure how or when this happened.

    There isn’t a drug on the planet that can remove the rocks for you! That’s why treating the symptoms, or the effects of these rocks, is unsuccessful in terms of fixing the real problem. The drugs, in fact, can become yet another toxic rock. (Just listen to the side effects on any drug commercial!) Removing body parts doesn’t fare much better in solving the problem. We’re not sinking because of a lack of drugs or too many body parts! The body isn’t ‘stupid’. It’s displaying a perfectly normal physiological adaptation to an environmental stressor.

    The rocks have another effect on your overall health picture. As more rocks are added to your backpack and you sink increasingly lower, the pressure on your water wings is increased, forcing the air to escape at a faster rate. You lose your years of life faster than originally intended… you age faster.

    It’s these incongruent lifestyle choices, or stressors, that are the catalyst for chronic illness. These toxic and deficient choices result in what’s known as our allostatic load. A chronic allostatic load, as a result of months and years of incongruent lifestyle choices, changes our genetic expression, our cellular function, our physiology, our biology, our entire internal environment, and ultimately our expression of health. This is how chronic illness develops.

    It becomes self-evident that the way to restore health is to remove rocks from your backpack, thus reducing pressure on your water wings!

    Ultimately, this means reducing our toxic and deficient choices while increasing pure and sufficient choices. This changes our environment and changes the expression of our genetics. This is the science of Epigenetics – how our environment determines the expression of our genetic code.

    Thankfully, science has shown us the blueprint. We do know what choices move us toward health. We can fix the problem. Adopting a lifestyle similar to our earlier (and healthier) ancestors is the most successful way to meet our innate genetic requirements for health and wellness while preventing chronic illness.

    Note: Once again, the concepts in this article are attributed to Dr. James Chestnut, B.Ed, M.Sc, D.C., C.C.W.P.

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    Source by Colleen Trombley-VanHoogstraat

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