My Grandmother's Voice

Mama and me as an infant

Hello There. VivBounty here to share a tender moment. Today is ten years since I last heard my grandmother's voice. This is the photo I have on the shelf in my office overlooking my desk where I write.

I took half a day off from my job in Pittsburgh, PA on this day ten years ago to meet my sister, Tinky so that we could drive to the hospital in Peterborough, ON to see Mama knowing she didn't have much time left. We arrived to find many of our family members gathered around her and overflowing out into the waiting area on what was the last time we would hear her speak, two weeks before she would make her transition out of her earthly body back home to heaven.

My Mum, her daughter, Doris asked her again if this is what she really wanted, meaning opting against dialysis knowing the renal failure would soon take her. She insisted she'd had a good long life of 87 years. I asked if there was anything she would ask of us or wishes we could carry out.

She asked that we not be somber once she's gone, wear only respectful colors, not black and that we do this for eight days as a period of mourning. So I would wear a beige, cream and burgundy pantsuit to her funeral and eulogize her in a way I think she would have approved of.

I asked her if she minded if I have one of her rosaries. She bequeathed me her black onyx one which she always carried in her handbag, and which I now always carry in mine.

As a baby, I spent much time with her and my grandfather, Toto who was Italian. He used to feed me spaghetti, one noodle at a time as I sat on his lap.

As I grew into an adult, in my 20's and 30's she shared stories with me of how she lived her life to the fullest without regret and advised that I should do the same. I traveled a lot in those years and Mama was always there to help me pack, sharing travel and packing tips with me from her days of adventure traveling around the world.

I knew she always had my back telling me not to let the gossip get to me and to just say with conviction that I am living my life to the fullest, enjoying my journey and so what? I wasn't hurting anyone.

She would tell me to keep my cards close to my chest, not to share too much or trust too easily, pointing out where the gossip leaks were from time to time over the years, always fortifying me with her support.

I miss her voice but I know she's still showing me the pitfalls in life. I sense her in spirit as I feel her guidance always. I pray on her rosary and I know she's pleased about that. 

I inherited her fierce love and protectiveness of my family, her strong beating heart, her sense of adventure and certainly her feisty spirit.

There is no lesson here today, just a reminder to hug those you love, keep them in your heart as they are always gone too soon.

Bountiful blessings,

VivBounty

Inspired By President Obama's Mention of Grandmother Age 55 Returning To School

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you the story of my sister, a grandmother aged 54 going back to school to reinvent herself. Reminded by President Obama in the debate in Denver last night when he mentioned meeting a grandmother age 55 going back to school on the campaign trail, I thought I'd better share this timely story with you.

What may seem at first glance, and in my humble opinion to some as laziness in the case of the unemployed may be a lack of self-confidence, a loss of faith in the job market or job search process and generally a series of events like companies closing or relocating to another State taking only the few chosen executive staff, cut backs, lay offs and all the things which are currently happening in today's world economic crisis.

The relocation of the company in the above scenario was my sister's case only she was administrative support staff so would not be moved to another State at the expense of the company but instead laid off, let go, or whatever politically correct buzzword you choose to substitute here. While her children were in a middle school with very high tuition, she chose to work at the school again in a secretarial, administrative support capacity in exchange and application towards a portion of that tuition. It was important to her that her children go to a good school and to her that meant private school for which she sacrificed much.

In addition to working in the school office she also worked at a local credit union as a banking teller. These two jobs continued until her youngest child went on to high school when she landed a great job with benefits at a tax accounting firm for the next six years. It was while at the tax accounting firm her granddaughter was born. Joy was soon to become worry as her position was eliminated and she found herself jobless yet again.

Two years of being unemployed, skilled but unable to find work where she could use her general skill set, she did all she could, attending job marts, registering with employment agencies, consulting with employment counsellors and basically pounded the pavement unable to find work. Finally she made the decision to go back to school. It was time to acquire a more specialized skill set to qualify her for the job openings in the current market.

Our Proud Graduate

For the next 8 months she attended Everest Institute full time. Determined to show her children and for the future of her beautiful granddaughter she forged on each day, all the while encouraging the young mothers in her classes to the the same. She would say, "If you just do the modules, show up every day, do your homework when it's due, you won't get behind, you'll be prepared for class, be able to keep up, get good grades and you will graduate to be employable for the jobs that are out there today". At the end of the course, the college assists the students in job placement. Instead of waiting to be given leads or sent on interviews, my sister immediately went on her own search coming back to her teachers and counsellors with information where they might give her reference to the job openings she had found. To her credit and success, she now works in the legal department of the largest health care insurance employer in her State

On August 28, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel at The Point, we celebrated with great jubilation, her graduation from Everest Institute in the Allied Health Department with the honour of making the Dean's List awarded to students with GPA 4.0. As I video taped her during the procession into the auditorium in her cap and gown, she said to me trembling through moist eyes, "Oh my sister, I have goose bumps".

Processing into the auditorium on Graduation Day

You see ever since she was a little girl in East Africa, this woman has sung the Star Spangled Banner, wanted to live in the USA, and graduate from college just like you see in the movies. As the faculty addressed the graduates there was a moment when they were each given a rose to present to the person who inspired them most to keep going through the trials and tribulations and finally complete this journey.

Mya on the happy day of  her Gammy's graduation

For my sister the one little person with such a huge impact on her heart and her life is her precious granddaughter, Mya, now almost 6 years old. I ran all over the auditorium behind her in the chaos of the over 300 graduates looking for their special person not knowing who she was searching for until we finally found little Mya to take this momentous photo with her "Gammy". We hope she will always treasure it, inspiring her and fuelling her on when she comes upon the hurdles in her life as most certainly every little girl does growing up to be all that she wants to be.

This is the sister that has always believed in me until I could believe in myself. She's my inspiration and my support system. Whenever I stumbled in life she has always been there to help me dust myself off, pull my socks up and keep right on going putting one foot in front of the other towards happiness and success. I share her with you and the world here because she is a gift. In fact I even said to a cousin who doesn't have sisters recently that I'm happy to share my sister with her because I know what a treasure she is, how supportive, inspirational and encouraging she is in my life. As Bishop T.D. Jakes once said, and I paraphrase a little bit here,  "like the scaffolding around a building, our loved ones are there to hold us up, surrounding and supporting, never leaving until we are able to stand on our own. And for that we thank God".

3 sisters

I know just as sure as I'm sitting here that my sister, the scaffolding of my life, will come and prop me up, surrounding me and protecting me with her matter-of-fact love and counselling every time I need some renovation and improvement and as always to celebrate my joy and successes, big and small regardless of how far we live from each other, which just happens to be 1,797.3 km at this moment. We are interwoven in the fabric of each other's lives and as we sisters, all three of us, say to each other, "we come as package", something we have been embued with by our Mum, who was the proudest of her that day.

None more proud than our Mum

My beautiful sister was such an inspiration to her teachers that she was asked to come back the next semester to address the graduating class and share her experience. As she stood up there, speaking off the cuff and from the heart with pride in her accomplishments, she assured every one of the graduates that they too could do it. At the end of her speech a woman in the audience approached her saying that she too was a grandmother in her 50's and was so very encouraged and inspired by her words to go back to school and reinvent herself as she now knows it's never too late.

Until next time, I live in search of more inspiration to help you manifest your bounty, whatever that means for you.

VivBounty

Develop the Courage to Face Your Fears

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you ways to develop the courage to face your fears with these self-help ideas written by Judith Conroy, Reiki Master. Judith has given me permission to share her articles with you on my blogs.

Fear is one of life's hindrances that can keep you from reaching your full potential. In
fact, it’s the likely culprit when you tell yourself that you're not able to do something
that you have every ounce of ability to do. Fear can turn your world upside down in no
time if you don’t confront it face to face.

Of course, you might be saying that it's easier said than done, because you've tried
your best to overcome your fears and it just hasn’t worked. It's totally
understandable if that's your stance right now. However, why not take a look at
some self-help ideas that could assist you in building the courage to stand taller than
whatever you're fearful of?

Are you ready? Let's go.

What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Take a minute to reflect on the fear that's holding you back. Take a closer look at
what you think will happen if you take a head-on approach to your fear. What's the
worst that could really happen?

• If you're worried about rejection, focus on a positive outcome to get past it.

•  If you're concerned about failure, think about the lesson you can learn from the
  experience that can continue to move you forward toward your goal.

•  If you're fearful about disappointing others, remember that "this too shall pass."

Conquer Smaller Fears First

If you're like most people, your fears range from the smallest, most insignificant
things to major scenarios that could be life-changing. But there's really no better way
to develop courage than to get some practice at facing your fears.

So why not start with smaller fears? Are you afraid of insects? Or are you worried
about taking a driving exam because you fear you'll fail? Start with things like these -
the fears that aren’t heart-crushing, but which still take some amount of courage to
face.

• Tell yourself you're capable of facing the fears because you're prepared.

•  Comfort yourself with knowing that you'll never get more than you can manage
  in life.

•  Remind yourself that what you fear is nowhere are large as your will and desire
  to conquer it!

 Look at Everything as a Learning Experience

Above all, it definitely helps a lot if you look at everything - even situations you fear -
as a learning experience. Putting a positive spin on something usually makes it much
easier to deal with.

Take some time to think about what positives you can discern from something you
fear. If you think about what conquering a specific fear could mean for you, consider
how proud and extremely happy you'll be when you actually make it through.

Think about how you'll feel on the other side of the road when you look back and
realize that making it through was much less of a challenge than you thought it would
be.

There's no greater success than the type that comes with overcoming obstacles. And
without a doubt, fear is an obstacle you can overcome.


Developing the courage to face your fears will likely be a work in progress for a while,
but it's truly possible. By using these self-help ideas, you'll be able to take baby steps
towards becoming brave enough to conquer what's preventing you from reaching
your fullest potential. Give it a shot and discover what you're really made of!

 ~ Thank you so much Judith ~

For my part, I can attest to Judith's advice above. I had a terrible fear of speaking in public. My high school French teacher sat beside me as I gave my oral presentation at end of term which represented a huge portion of my mark. She gave me looks of encouragement and if I stumbled she prompted me with a word or a phrase. She knew my fear I had me stalling to the point of being ill  and that I was more than capable of doing a great presentation. She was right and my classmates applauded me at the end of it and I got a really high mark for that class, I knew I could speak in public without passing out, and that skill has paid off numerous times for me.

I went on to have a travel career escorting groups of tourists around the world and even giving presentations to tourists on location. Speaking to the congregation in Church, sad task though it is, I have been called upon to give a eulogy or two for those I love over the years giving great comfort to the family and friends gathered knowing I was the only one to effectively pay tribute to that particular soul's life. In the moments I have been called upon to speak to large groups, the focus has always been on what they need to hear, drawing on my source, intending to impart upon the group the knowledge, information or comfort they seek as a group and individually so that my fear or nervousness is not even on the radar anymore.

In fact, next month, well into an early retirement, I am escorting a fund raising bus tour for PEDVAC, our local social agency. On last count we had 30 ladies booked, some of whom sit on the board of directors with me. Take a look at the bus tour itinerary and great work this agency does at the Web site I created for them here.

Until next time, this is VivBounty telling you that you have nothing to fear but fear itself. 

Inspiring You To Manifest Your Own Bounty.

VivBounty~ Living Life With Best Intention

In Honour Of Those Who Lost Their Lives Ten Years Ago Today

Hello Fellow Inspiring Ones, VivBounty here to share with you a little message of hope from a New Yorker who happened to be in Ireland on that fateful day, September 11, 2001 when the world changed.

This morning I happened to be going through my recipe folder and on the back of a recipe called Mama's Beef Stew from Guideposts Magazine, 2002, the following article appeared.

I add this article and share the prayer I posted in our church bulletin this week:
"Lord, help us to find a way to make peace with those who have harmed us."

And finally I wish to share the timely arrival of this most inspirational video in my In-box which not only brings home the horrific attrocities of war but the immense triumph of the human spirit.

Enjoy the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86jlvrG54o&feature=related

It doesn't matter what colour our skin is, whether our eyes are oval or slanted, we are more alike than we are different and we all want the children who are our future to have a fighting chance at a good full life, honouring their divinity which they came here to share with us. 

May all adoptive mothers on earth be blessed for all the children you rescue who then go on to bless your lives beyond measure.

Namaste,
VivBounty

There Is A Reason You Are Drawn To Every Situation

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you confirmation there is a reason you are drawn to every situation.

This is a sequel of a sort to my previous post Working The Church Supper, where I found myself battling about why I had agreed to do this.

The reasons I was meant to share my time and lend a helping hand were as varied as the many people I met at the church supper. First there was the lady who had asked me to help in the first place. This lady had been on my prayer list for a life-threatening disease along with a second lady for which there had been little hope of recovery. Still, there they were both doing wonderfully as far as I could tell and certainly enjoying the fellowship and food.

The next amazing thing were the other volunteers and servers. The lady serving the table beside mine actually remembered my first visit to the church almost 4 years ago and inquired whether I had received a response to my inquiries. There were also 2 men whom I had seen around the village at various fundraisers and social events during those years clad in aprons, serving food at the buffet and washing dishes. These guys were always friendly and comical when I had seen them out and about but I never imagined them to be selfless or charitable and it warmed my heart to see them in this light. Still another 3 ladies were in their late 70's and one 80 years old serving tables with big smiles hardly sitting down for a couple of hours. They were certainly an inspiration to me and put the young one complaining about her feet hurting to shame.

I wasn't surprised to see 2 of the older ladies serving their community as they were 2 of the very first people we met when we moved here and each time we ran into them, be it in a store, at the doctor's office or at the hospital setting up all our vital services in the area, they always hugged us like they had known us all our lives. I had been praying for one of them as well and got confirmation of her clean bill of health recently. Still another fell and hurt herself shortly thereafter and having spent time with them during my shift at the church supper, I felt comfortable enough to drop in unannounced to visit and check on her. Again I was welcomed warmly with tight hugs, they never seem to forget anyone's name, and they always have a very sweet encouraging word for me no matter what circumstance we meet under.

The final lady I wish to mention is the one who I had been meaning to connect with since our first meeting at the town office. She had been welcoming then, offering her computer to print our forms out directing us to her home saying that we should just tell her husband she sent us and he'd be happy to let us use his computer and printer. Now 4 years later at the church supper, I found out she used to be a dog groomer and is now an artist. I have seen some of her work at friends' homes and businesses around the village and it is beautiful. Again, I dropped in on my dog walk to introduce her to my dog, Pedro and found we had so many other things in common that we now have a date to have tea and a visit to her studio on the top floor of her house. She has lovely bird feeders, a cat, a dog, bat houses and all sorts of things we can bond over and learn from each other. I just know I was meant to add her to my many friends in this lovely little village.

Until next time, don't think twice when you are called to do something new in a new place. You just never know what good things God and the universe might have in store for you.

Keep peace and love in your heart this season of spiritual cleansing and always,
VivBounty

"For it is in giving that we receive;..."
--St. Francis of Assisi

Working The Church Supper

Hi There, VivBounty here to share with you how I came to work at my first church supper in the village.

While at a meeting a fellow board member who is also part of the church ladies group asked if I would help with the upcoming church supper. She quickly summed up that I'd be required to "take their plates and ask them if they want tea or coffee". I thought I could manage that so I agreed. Almost immediately, I began to regret my decision. As the church supper date approached, my misgivings grew and these thoughts plagued me:

• The differences between religion and spirituality came into play.
• The whole financial solvency issue of this little parish like so many others worldwide being in jeopardy of closing. The powers that be seemingly uncaring.
• Bad behaviour and all that surrounds the abuse of power playing out in the media not just lately but for many years.
• Those who need the support of this parish not receiving it while others who don't need it get it.
• An understandable drop in members and new clergy.

About a week before the supper, I got a voice message to confirm me serving a table, with an added request that I make a potato scallop dish if I knew what that was. This was nothing like the image I had in my mind of the first quick request to take plates and offer tea or coffee behind a counter. So now I was very reluctant to do this. I returned the call to say I'd never waited tables before nor was I comfortable or confident enough to cook for others on that scale. I was assured there'd be others around me to help me with table service and not to worry about cooking a dish.

The day arrived and I was still not sure I wanted to go through with this. I spent the morning in meditation searching for peace and goodwill turning to my bookcase I found Gary Zukav's book Soul Stories. He talks about multisensory perception and everyone having non-physical friends; some have more than others depending on how many people and situations you will encounter. He states: Non-physical Teachers do not tell you what to do. They help you see your options. They help you think through your choices. They help you understand what you are feeling, and why. They help you become more loving. They guide you to the fullest use of your life. They are Friends who share with you. Then you decide what to do.

I decided that my gang of non-physical friends (however many there are) and I would go work this church supper. As promised I had a table of nine, it filled twice, I served tea, coffee, cake and took plates. At the end of it all, I was so pleased I went realizing I knew more people than I thought I did, it was not at all about lining the church's pockets, nor giving to an organization whose mandate I didn't wholeheartedly agree with. It was about community and I revelled in the fellowship of our little community of less than 500 people, where folks love to gather at the various charitable events; especially during winter when we are all cooped up, don't see much of anyone except the grocer and the gas station clerk.

During this reflective season of Lent, use more than your five senses and know that there is a reason you are drawn to every situation in your life.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

“Multisensory perception is the voice of the nonphysical world.”
—Gary Zukav

Little Coincidences Brought Us Firewood And Help

Hello There, VivBounty here to bring you the wonderful little "coincidences" which brought our firewood to us. I have to say before I go any further that there is nothing like wood heat. We have oil in the tank which fuels our furnace, but forced air blowing through the house is just not the same as the warmth which emanates from our wood burning stove. I had been raving so much about us sitting around the fire in our snug where we spend most of our winter family time, that my sister insisted on my hubby lighting a fire in April when she visited just so she could share the experience.

Needless to say it would not do to run out of wood and what we were hearing as we asked about the village was not encouraging. Read more here to see how >>>>>>> Little Coincidences Brought Us Firewood And Help
I hope you seek joy in your everday thoughts and believe that what you think about will bring you more of the same. For my part, I had complete faith that we would have more firewood before running out, that somehow the universe would help us to get it delivered and stored and that's exactly what happened.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

Manifested That Wonderful Bus Ride

Part 2 The Wonderful Bus Ride Manifests Fully

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you part 2 of my wonderful bus ride from the airport to a bus station near my mum's to spend a wonderful week with my family celebrating my sister's graduation from college.

I had reached the connection point for my second bus and called my mum to give her my estimated arrival time. In the terminal seating area I could see my bus through the glass door. The bus driver appeared outside on the tarmac, coffee in hand, opened the door to the bus, got seated and closed the door ready to pull off looking quite frazzled...

Wonderful things happened on my bus ride. Be sure to read these next segments: Conversation Turned To Spirituality and Self Help, Other Passengers Were Inspired By Our Chat, How Time Flies When You Seek And Manifest Joy...

Until next time, be kinder than necessary, as everyone is fighting some kind of battle.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty
Inspiring Manifestation

I Intended To Have A Wonderful Bus Ride

Hello There VivBounty here to share with you the wonderful bus ride I intended to have and ultimately manifested this past August going home for a week with my family in celebration of my sister's graduation. My intention was simple. I would thoroughly enjoy this bus ride. Well just look what the universe did to match my vibe...

Until next time, know that thoughts are things and what you put out there comes right back to you. Stay tuned for part 2 of my wonderful bus ride.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty
Inspiring Manifestation

Welcome To The New Niche For VivBounty

Hello my loyal readers and followers. VivBounty here to share with you my new niche, VivBounty Inspires Manifests. This blog was my very first blog and so I blogged about everything here, not really focusing on a particular niche.

My third blogging class with my mentor extraordinaire, who is now my partner online, TrudyVan comes to an end tomorrow. Again I have learned tons of new stuff about the blogger platform and yet again I have managed to get more focus and direction as I pursue my Internet marketing business and strengthen my online presence. Read more here >>>

Thank you once, again, TrudyVan. You continue to inspire and amaze me.

All things related to online business, Internet and affiliate marketing will now be posted in my new blog, VivBounty OnlineBizGuide at the link above.

For a long time now I have contemplated starting a spiritual blog. As you may have read in my complete profile, I am a reiki practitioner and find great truth and comfort in my spirituality. In simple everyday life, there are what a cherished relative once called, "little lights of dawning". Those are the little gems I hope to share here on my VivBounty Inspires Manifests blog, not the sort of hocus pocus stuff often associated with the paranormal and certainly not the spooky stuff, but just the stuff that has inspired me and worked for me along life's journey, I call my "Safari To Success".

At some point as I came to embrace my love of writing and spirituality in the last decade or so it surprised me to learn that, as a result of my spirituality and belief that love transcends death, I wrote and delivered three eulogies for loved ones. That was very nice, but again, I didn't want to become known as the eulogy guru. My reference group (sisters, friends, those I've created greetings for) encouraged me to seek employment with greeting card companies, such as Hallmark, Blue Mountain and the like. I tried to envisage that but found I could not pump out anonymous emotion.

In the midst of all the fog of trying to figure out what to write about and how to best use this love of inspirational writing my personal works for those I love and admire have continued to touch their hearts and endear me to them, their guests, and attendees at momentous occasions.

As this is my first post to begin my new niche, I share with you here the one which holds the dearest place in my heart as it is in honour of the dearest person in my life, and where it all began for me, my one and only, most amazing Mum!

Until next time, hug someone you love and if you can't, tell them you love them.
VivBounty

VivBounty Offering Web Conferencing Solutions

Hello There VivBounty Here. Now I know you know that the future of global business is in online conferencing. It's not rocket science, it's just technology and evolution. So whether you need to hold a meeting for a business you currently run, are looking to start your own online business, know some folks who are looking for affordable conferencing solutions, gvo has it all.

Heck at this affordable price, it doesn't have to be just for business folks. Families can hold reunions online, live and in person so-to-speak. Any sort of meeting, brainstorming, fun gathering can be done online with this fantastic conferencing solution. It doesn't require any downloading so it's easy even for grandparents to connect with their children. We must not forget the all-important troops fighting for our freedom around the world. As long as they have access to the Internet they too can meet with loved ones back home and everyone can keep them inspired and feel loved.

For my part, as I'm online to both inspire and earn money, gvo is a perfect fit. Won't you join me?

Just making sure you don't miss out. Just do yourself a favour and click on the banner.

To Your Success,
VivBounty and Partners

An Update on Andreas' Heart Operation

 Hello There. VivBounty here with an update on Andreas' heart operation. Andreas' Heart Operation Postponed...read here.

This is the second postponement, the first being due to technical and staffing issues and the second, being the the tragic events in this little boy's life which have caused him to be too fragile to undergo this life-saving procedure, previously scheduled for March.

I want to send my prayers, condolences and support to Andreas and his family. A also pledge to donate any proceeds from the sale of this book to Andreas' family to assist with costs the incur as then need to travel with this sweet angel to save his life.

Please make sure you check my post on places to donate. Scroll down the to the March Archives at the end of column to the right in posts "Andreas is scheduled for miraculous life-saving heart surgery March 23, 2010" and "I Pledge All My Earnings From Geo String To Andreas' Heart Campaign". Geo String is not only FREE, it pays you $10 to join, so it costs you nothing to give to this cause, should you be moved to do so. 


We thank you for your thoughts, prayers and continued support during this very difficult time. This little boy really is a walking miracle, and we pray we will have him with us, with his grandfather watching over him for a long time to come. 


Until we have further news, I bid you farewell and a prosperous week. 


VivBounty

When Someone Believes In You

Hello There. VivBounty here to share with you the intangible things in life that inspire and propel me forward. This is my HubPage about the milestones in my life along my Safari To Success, as I call it.

When Someone Believes In You

I would not be the person I am today were it not for the people who have believed in me along the way before I believed in myself.

Self-esteem is something many people struggle with. Young people need someone to believe in them to convince them that that can indeed do anything, be whoever they want, manifest their dream job and lifestyle.

Until next time, tell someone you believe in them.

Prosperous Blessings,

VivBounty

Safari To Success

Quick Solution to Fonts Not Printing in PDF

Quick Solution to Fonts Not Printing in PDF

Hello There, VivBounty here to blog about my 12th HubPage just published. It is really true what they say about necessity being the mother of invention. It took some doing and frustration but I finally created a PDF which could be printed intact, of course being a PDF it is uneditable, but the fonts can be a problem when it comes to printing.

Trying to make a greeting for my aunt, to e-mail to my sister a thousand miles away, so that she could take to a print shop for printing on photo paper. As I was unable to attend pur aunt's milestone birthday celebration, my sisters would give her this framed greeting from the 3 of us and I would be represented as if I were there.

My original PDF would not print and came out very narrow. A few phone calls and some creativity with free software, and the result was this HubPage which explains how we pulled it all together.

Follow me on Twitter, username VivBounty as I churn out my HubPages for the challenge. Learn along with me how to use these free tools to manifest your own bounty, lots of fun stories about my travels around the world, and even more pages about the awesome pets who have come to be the keepers my Being.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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VivBounty.blogspot.com

Love Transcends Death - a tribute to a loving dad

Love Transcends Death

Hello There, VivBounty here with a HubPage I have written, number 8 in the 30 hubs in 30 days challenge.

We as daughters, my 2 sisters and I, believe that our dad is always with us, even though he passed away 18 years ago. We have sensations of his guidance and no it's not hocus pocus, eery stuff as Halloween approaches, we usually sense him when we are going through major life-changing events.

In the link above I gave just one example for each of the three of us, but there have been many more as life takes it's turns.

I consider this to be inspirational as I continue to be grateful for my bounty, my dad's love and tutelage is certainly propelling me along. It gives hope to those who think death ends relationships. Enjoy our truths and leave me a comment if it moves you.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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VivBounty.blogspot.com

Why Should You learn to create a Wordpress Blog?

Hi There! VivBounty here with some reasons why you should learn to create a Wordpress blog.

This week in the LGT Training Room, we have been learning to create Wordpress blogs. There are so many things you can do with a Wordpress blog - see list below. My fellow classmates have learned to further define their unique brand names. Find a niche which is at least quite specific, if not unique is also very important. After all you don't want to be out there selling widgets that everyone else is selling or you'll be drowned in the competition.

You will need a domain name and hosting services to be able to create a Wordpress blog. The actual process of uploading the software to your domain takes less than a minute. Our trainer

demonstrated step-by-step how you can then choose themes, and add plugins to further customize your blog to suit your unique brand and specific niche.

A Wordpress blog is very effective as a main index page on your domain. From here you can add links to other blogs, sites and products you wish to market. Once you have quality content based on how you wish to brand yourself and what specific niche you want to promote, you can add pages to your Wordpress blog. The titles of these pages will appear in tabs with live links on your main blog page so remember give them short names. The tabs may be above or below your header depending on the basic theme template of your blog but they will be on the first page and easily found.

In my case, I chose VivBounty as my brand, as in manifesting my own bounty, thankful for my bounty, inspiring you towards creating and appreciating your own bounty. My domain name, Safari To Success was born from my love of and extensive globe trotting. I believe that life is a journey and success, rather than being the destination, comes in the lessons along the way. So at this juncture I am an Inspirational blogger, earning my living as an Internet Marketer. I write about my life-long journey in an effort to inspire others along with me towards manifestation of abundance in all its forms, i.e. joy, inner peace, contentment, health, love, and of course, last but not least, prosperity.

Getting back to my first Wordpress blog. Our class continues into next week so that we can have all parts of our blog "engine" in place and fully functional, before we roll it off the assembly line. Watch this space for the launch!

Some Components of a Wordpress blog and their possibilities:

• Your appearance, layout, columns, and placement of header and those page title tabs
• Your theme template - reflects colours you like and pictures to suit your niche
• Your photo - this can be added with a plugin
• Protection from SPAM and comment moderation - another plugin
• Automatic submission to blog ping services which can be added in your settings
• Search engine optimization plugins which give you great rankings and visibility
• Add links - this mostly for other sites and blogs
• Add pages - this you can use for your Primary Program and affiliate programs
• Tags - These are all part of your SEO (search engine optimization)
• Categories - This helps readers searching and organizes your content
• Images can be added to all pages, sidebar, and posts optimizing monetizing...

Stay tuned for more to come. As we come to a close on this training and my blog is ready to roll out, you will see a live example of just the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with a Wordpress blog.

We hare having such fun in the LGT training room where live training memberships begin at just $5.95 per month. Free members get tons of free tools, affiliates earn commissions on following one level of personally sponsored members.

Come aboard! We're expecting you.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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Why Network Marketing Will Continue To Grow - By Robert Kiyosaki

Hello there, VivBounty here with more really enlightening and inspiring information,

This is simply a re-printed article I share here with you, courtesy of John Kielec, founder and president of the F5M Millionaires Club, who received it from our esteemed club member, Jim Spurrill. Thank you so much Mr. Kiyosaki, John and Jim for this great information reinforcing why we are all working so hard to build our Network Marketing Business.

Message From Mr. John Kielec:

Dear Fortune5Minutes and F5M-Millionaires Club members,

I have received very interesting article from F5M-MC member Jim Spurrill and would like to share this information with all F5M-MC members.

Why Network Marketing Will Continue to Grow - Robert Kiyosaki

For network marketers, the future looks very bright indeed, because there are economic trends already in process that will drive more and more people to participate in this business in the years ahead.

People Want More Freedom

Gone are the days when a person takes a job at age 25 and stays there for life, doing as he's told to keep that job secure. Today, people want to be more mobile and have more choices. They want the freedom to live their lives on their own terms. A part-time network marketing business offers people more control over their lives; ultimately, it provides more freedom. It provides a low-cost-of-entry, ready-made system for those anxious to make a change.

People Want to Be Rich

During my parents' generation, the rules said, "If you work hard, the older you get, the more you'll be paid, earning ever more money (within tightly proscribed limits) through incremental pay raises." As you approached the end of your life, however, those rules reversed: when you retired you expected your income to go down. In other words, the assumption for my parents and their contemporaries was that one would work hard all one's life--and retire poor.

The Future Looks Bright

No more. Today we have 25-year-olds who've never held down a job in their lives, yet have become billionaires by building a software company. At the same time, we have 50-year-olds looking for jobs, hoping to get back to a place where they can earn $50,000 a year. What's worse, these same 50-year-olds have little or nothing to set aside for retirement; indeed, they may never be able to retire. These 50-year-olds don't need jobs; they need the opportunity to get rich enough to provide a sustainable level of income for the rest of their lives. That opportunity is exactly what network marketing provides. Network marketing companies offer this possibility by providing the necessary education, mentoring and business systems to assist these 50-year-olds build their own B quadrant [business-owner] businesses. By the year 2010 (not that far away!) the first of 75 million Baby Boomers in America will reach the age of 65. Many will come to network marketing as a means of building that lifetime of security which their jobs did not provide. Indeed, beyond meeting the basic needs of minimum-level financial security, a person who successfully builds a network marketing business may potentially join the ranks of the world's ultra-rich, becoming far more wealthy than highly-educated and hard-working professional people, such as doctors, lawyers and engineers. They may even become wealthier than many sports stars, movie stars and rock stars. If you are already an established network marketer, what does this mean for you? This is the best news of all: as the year 2010 approaches, many people who are already network marketers will do exceptionally well as millions of Baby Boomers come their way.

Individual Retirement Portfolios Will Be Wiped Out

Never in the history of the world have so many people bet their retirement years on the stock market. This is a recipe for financial disaster. During my parents' generation, retirees counted on the companies they worked for and the federal government to provide the income stream to support their retirement years. They didn't have to worry about managing their retirement portfolio: the companies they worked for did that for them. Today, more often than not, when you retire you're on your own. Millions of Americans have 401k's or similar retirement accounts--and that's all they have. If your 401k runs out of money when you reach, say, age 78, you won't be able to go back to your former employee and ask for help. There'll be nowhere to turn.

The Future Looks Bright

There's also a strong possibility that the US stock market will collapse by the year 2010--if not sooner. If this happens, many 401k retirement plans will collapse along with it, which will mean that millions of people will never be able to retire--or at best, they won't have the pleasant retirements of which they had so fondly dreamed. Suddenly a person with $2 million in mutual funds in his retirement account may find that portfolio cut in half. On top of that, he may be stuck with a capital gains tax that could bankrupt the remaining value of the retirement portfolio. That's the risk of betting your retirement years on paper. The number of people who have bet their lives on the stock market is at an all-time high: if there is a crash, millions of people will be seeking other sources for financial security--such as building the kind of B quadrant business that network marketing can provide.

The Rules Have Changed

In 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down and the World Wide Web went up, the rules of the world changed forever. According to many economic historians, that's when the Industrial Age ended, and the Information Age began. In the Industrial Age, the rules were that if you worked hard, your company and the government would take care of you. In the Information Age, the rules are different: the new rules say, you had better be planning to take care of yourself. How? Starting now, by investing in your own network marketing business.

Well, F5M-Millionaires Club certainly has a great potential for huge growth into the future.
John Kielec

No one else is going to build your bounty for you. You can get all the free tools you need here to get you started from Lead Generating Tools where even as a free member you can earn income.

This is the place to start, folks. You can be in business on the World Wide Web for as little as $5 BUCKS one time for life!! I'm certainly here to help you get started so please leave me a comment if you have any questions at all.

I hope this really timely information makes up for the lag between posts, all. In my defense, I had computer issues this week and managed to lose most of my back up files. Thank God for the wonderful team of professionals at LGT and who managed to retrieve most of what I had lost.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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How Do You Find Balance? Create a Daily Planner. Include Fun and Rest

Hello from VivBounty this sunny Sunday morning. We've had snowfall overnight and the panoramic scenery from any window in the house in every direction is like a picture postcard of winter wonderland. I have woken up without an alarm just when my body has had enough rest and the day ahead is just for domesticity, which according to one online dictionary is defined as "homelife and the devotion to it". There is no timetable or schedule today. This is family and leisure day in my tradition and work and study will resume tomorrow.

Things I love to do which feed my soul include writing or sharing experiences which might inspire others, hence posting in my blog fits right into my Sunday tradition of just being with myself and my family. Speaking of sharing, let me tell you about our training in the LGT conference room this past week.

We had a really great week in class learning and sharing ideas about time management. At the end of our session members were given a free e-book on the subject complete with rights to sell or give away as we choose. Now I ask you, are the wonderful trainers and owner of Lead Generating Tools generous or what? Let me just answer that for you. Nowhere online will you find a company that consistently over delivers like this one. That is why it's my base of operation from which I build and promote my home business.

So in a nutshell, yes I'm trying to keep this post short enough so that I don't lose you to time constraints or boredom, whichever comes first, here's what I learned from my trainers and classmates alike.

One must be organized. It's important to have a tidy desktop, in our case that means on our computers, but it could mean a real desk too because we have not become a paperless society yet. We learned digital filing to keep things in an orderly fashion and know where to find files and applications when we need them. This includes folders made to contain various things like a list of links to use in our advertising, software used to create our Adsense sites, ad copy, folders containing websites we're building, other works in progress, and especially free downloads for the myriad of tools and products given to us monthly by LGT depending on your membership level including Free Tools members.

Next we have those lists. Those of us who use lists, and in today's fast-paced world, there aren't many who don't, know that even the lists must be organized. If not they become never ending and just add to your stress instead of reducing it, hence the emergence of the daily planner. Again this can be in paper form or digital. We learned how to create one using HTML, Excel, Word, or Open office, depending on what each had access to on their PC. For the very busiest of people who need to literally make time for each and every small task in their day-to-day routine, it was important include non-business tasks on the list. These could include an hour meditation or quiet time, thirty minutes to walk the dog, time for laundry, cooking a meal, making medical appointments, playing a game of scrabble with an elderly neighbour, and play or study time with a child. We can easily get so absorbed in building our business that we lose our balance and that is when our family and our health begin to break down.

For me it's a matter avoiding being extremely regimented. I like order and have a loose routine, but micro dissecting every moment of my day would increase my stress. This is after all the reason for choosing to work from home as opposed to in an office for a corporation where one is told when to arrive, when to leave, how long to break for a meal, not to have personal calls, etc. Having said all that, running your own business requires a regimen of some sort to be successful. My daily planner now works around my home life and loved ones first, while making sure to complete one project for my home business each day. This is usually a combination of tasks from setting up an auto-responder, creating a form leading to it, up to designing a lead capture page to share the wealth system with others. After training, I'm tired but inspired and full of ideas. My mind and body then say "I'll not do this task well if I don't rest, eat, hug my loving husband, walk my beautiful dog or whatever first". So I stop and do what my spirit tells me before I take on the tasks at hand.

A very useful tip we got was to set your business goal. Decide how big you want your business to be, when you want to get there, then break your big goal down into smaller goals working backwards from years, to months, to weeks, to days, to hours so that you know what you need to accomplish each hour to achieve your goal. There's the old question, "How do you eat an elephant?" the answer is "One bite at a time."

Remember a planner is just that. It's a plan and a guide. Life happens while you're making other plans and you may not get to your list that day, so just move the task to the next day's list and carry on from there. Prioritize the list with things that are most beneficial to your business first like advertising and on down to filing, backing up, etc. and work down the list each day to see how it goes. Tweak it depending on results and workability until the rhythm feels right to you.

Until next time, hoping you find balance as you build your wildest dreams.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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How You Can Optimize The Time You Spend on Your Home Business

Hello there. VivBounty here with some more lights of dawning bestowed upon me the past fortnight or so.

During the course of any given week in my home business, between almost daily meetings and training every day in the LGT conference room, I definitely need to manage my time better. My challenge is to move from being a training room groupie afraid to miss something to one who is confident and organized enough to take what I’ve learned and just do it! It’s all very well to grab all the wisdom and say you’ve learned but one must apply and one must do. Deepak Chopra said in his video, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success that one can spend his lifetime in a room with books studying, but if he never leaves that room to interact with another soul, he has learned nothing. I am on my way to a regular advertising campaign regimen to turbo charging my cash flow. That being said, my downlines are growing, Amen! More on this after time management training week...

The founder of my business system who has been making people wealthy for over 16 years paying daily in over 250 countries worldwide, struck a chord with me last meeting when he shared this. I won't try to quote him as I couldn't now, but what he said in essence is that he was approached, as he is regularly by Internet marketers, by one about joining the "newest program". So what he told this individual is that if he could prove to him that this program was better than the wealth system in every way, he would not only join him, but he would also give him ten thousand dollars. The man went away returning time and time again with different propositions all sounding great but no proof of income, longevity, support, etc. Well this went on for 5 or so years, and finally he asked the Internet marketer, “All the time and effort you’ve spent on trying to prove me wrong all these years, why don’t you just join me and make the ten grand?”

This brings me to the subject of program-hoppers or folks who join every new networking, or mlm, program that launches. Not only do they never have time to learn each one effectively, they spend a fortune and end up broker than if they had done nothing. As I’ve said before in previous posts, focus your efforts. Find a program you can believe in. Spend your money wisely. For example, if you’re going to pay for advertising, make sure you’ve researched the effectiveness and responsiveness of the media you plan to advertise with. If it’s not working after a decent effort, go somewhere else. Take the Advertising with Income Co op, for example. It's an option with the F5M Millionaires Club, not a monthly subscription plan, but pay as you go, earn commission on one downline level, plan. Advertising being a numbers game, one must give the ads time to saturate, so it is recommended that you remain in for at least 3 months to see some results. You get updates of real stats from Admin of how many hits your link has received that month. In my 3 months in the co-op I have received real paid signups, but I don’t rely solely on the co-op. This works in time but is not going to make you rich overnight. Diversity in advertising is key.

The traffic exchanges are also a popular and effective way of advertising for people working from home. In the case of the program hoppers, having too many URLs dilutes the effectiveness of your efforts. Credits are used up so quickly so that only the first few surfers see the ad then website is taken out of the viewing rotation and no matter how many people are surfing, the ad will not be seen again until more credits are assigned to it.

Our trainer this week on just this subject was Tom Bouchillon, who did a marvelous job of showing us how to effectively use the traffic exchanges. He took us into desktop sharing mode in the conference room and demonstrated live how to place your links in the traffic exchange, how to earn credits, then how to assign those credits so that others will see your ads while they are surfing. Credits can be earned in several ways. You earn them surfing, buy them or be rewarded for referring others in credit or cash where upgrade commission applies on downlines.

You can also gain more exposure by bidding on the Daily Sponsor site, one of the tools in Traffic Empire, for example. Once you have credits accumulated, you can use them to bid for the front-page spot for 24 hours. Some traffic exchanges have a free rotator, which means you can enter all your links into the rotator and advertise them all using just the one link in all places where rotators are allowed. This saves time when you have to remove or change the link for one of your programs. All you need to do is change it in the rotator instead of having to log in to each traffic exchange. Also worth mentioning is all the links, ads and banners advertised in LGT Fast Auto Traffic are placed all across the many LGT sites. In addition many of our members have our code on their sites so that takes ads on the LGT network further out across the whole World Wide Web.

The newbie class also feeds into the main class very well. Although it is very early, see schedule here for many in North America, TrudyVan, the trainer is based in South Africa and must feed into the other main training courses offered free at Lead Generating Tools where free tools members can now earn commission for Team LGT members they introduce. TrudyVan taught us that some traffic exchanges even allow you to personalize your splash pages. There are places where you can add a profile picture, other places let you add your business banner, and some allow you to create an entirely customized banner from scratch and use it to brand yourself while advertising their traffic generator. Each traffic exchange also has a downline builder. This is a list of optional programs you can join under your sponsor. If you already belong to any of the programs in the downline builder, you may add your username or I.D. in the field so that your referrals in that traffic exchange would be joining you instead of your sponsor. This builds your downlines in multiple programs in as many traffic exchanges as you join allowing you to create multiple income streams.

The tip which both trainers agreed upon and the one which was most eye opening to me was that it’s better to surf 20-50 pages in each exchange daily than surf 100 or more once a week. The rationale behind this is that if the 100 or more credits are used up before you surf next week, your site will not be seen again for the rest of the week whereas if you surf less sites daily, assign credits daily, your site will be seen daily. I personally like the idea of my site being seen everyday and I’m certainly wiser than I've been for twelve years marketing online never knowing this little tidbit.

Next week if all goes according to schedule, we’ll be learning time management. I’ll certainly need this lesson. It just won’t do to keep you all waiting 2 weeks for another update, eh!

Build your wildest dreams. Never Give Up. There is a Better Life Waiting For You!

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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How To Shine in 2009!

Hello. VivBounty here with my kick-start to the New Year.

I had so many plans over the holidays to get organized so that I would be ready to kick my advertising into overdrive. The state of the economy worldwide being what it is, this is the best time to build your online business and beat the credit crunch.

Well the Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities came and they were lovely but I didn’t get nearly as much done as I’d hoped. My to-do list was a tad over the top and after all, the holidays are for spending more time enjoying with family and friends so I did just that.

Fortunately, I have taken my tutelage well in life and over my dozen-or-so years online and after many mistakes and a process of elimination, managed to put much of it into practice. I now know that if something on my to-do list does not get accomplished, it’s not the end of the world. I’m also quite proficient at multi-tasking, although, it is said there is no such thing as multitasking; you do one thing and then you do the next thing. We could argue this point until the cows come home, but I digress, so suffice it to say that I managed to complete a good many tasks maybe not simultaneously but over a relatively short period of time by arranging them effectively. Let me clarify; while I was watching lovely holiday movies with my husband, I had my laptop putting my log-ins for my various online programs into a file to be safely stored on CD/external hard drive, etc. Gone are the 3x5 index cards! While attending meetings in our conference rooms online after the holidays (remember that unfinished to-do list), at a lull in the presentation or whilst the trainer may have been helping someone over a hurdle I have already cleared, listening all the while, I opened other windows and organized my files into more appropriately named folders for easier and quicker access.

I have learned the hard way that you have to pick a business and focus on it. If you’re a program jumper and you’re scattered, you’ll never be able to focus enough on any one of those programs to make it successful. Having scattered energy makes for a cluttered environment, which in turn makes for a cluttered mind. Now that I have all my files and log-ins where I can find them, I can concentrate on consistent, ongoing, effective advertising and list-building so that when my prospects come into my auto-responder, I can show them, just like I learned how to build their bounty from the ground up the correct way.

Lead Generating Tools is my base of operations where I can earn money while building my own business, learning to brand myself, in a company, which doesn’t believe in making you spend unnecessary money. The live trainers teach, give of themselves, train, inspire, encourage and never leave anyone behind allowing each member to learn at their own pace from “newbie” to experienced marketer. You see not only is Lead Generating Tools an very lucrative affiliate program in and of itself, but it is also a growing Network consisting of many websites across which my business is advertised to thousands of prospects daily.

The first week’s training has been on e-commerce; yes I found all the files I had downloaded which I needed for class. Now that I’m focused, it’s easier to know where to look. We learned to put a product in our shopping cart and load it up on to our web site. Next week we are going to continue our blogging class, but there’s so much more it’s just easier to show you the training schedule here so you can see how much free training we have and how much LGT consistently over-delivers.

In addition to the digital exposure, our first “Boost Your Biz” conference for members of SocialBrats and their guests to come and “show their wares” so-to-speak was a roaring success! In this live conference setting you can post a link or two in the text and take the microphone to give a short 5-10 minute talk on your opportunity in a setting where the folks who are advertising and the guests or prospects can actually meet! Who’da thunk it, eh? In this online world where you don’t know where a link is taking you or whom you’re getting into business with, how cool is that?

Finally it’s important to do your due diligence before you join a program and make sure that guru you’re following can actually put their money where their mouth is and is not just a consistent program starter, here today, grabbing your membership fee and gone tomorrow. Go to a couple of meetings and get to know the admin of the business before you join. Make sure you know the program will still be around for years to come like Fortune5Minutes so that after you get active and bring tons of people in, you will be rich, not someone else. Ask questions and find out if this is a product or program you really want to get into and can believe in. In my business, F5M Millionaires Club, meetings we are given surprise bonuses like upgrades or paid advertising on the spur of the moment or paid memberships for your guests, and the like; bonuses which have real value and could go a long way to catapulting your business, so if you miss a meeting, you could really be short-changing yourself! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Until next time, this is VivBounty encouraging you to manifest your bounty your way. Like someone in the LGT training room said, "Shine in 2009"!

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

Free Marketing Tools. Use them to Earn Cash

Anyone Can Do This With Zero Experience. Just $5

Protect Your Pet Year Round. Naturally

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