Clutch the spellbinder

What if it was your dream to write a story that no person could explain, to insinuate that fulfillment for characters involved could be as meaningful as loss? This may strike you as a stimulating challenge that requires devoted attention. But when would you get to it? And where would the seeds of your spellbinder come from?

Despite being in a strange frame of mind, you might reflect on a brief list of stories that have perplexed and inspired you at the same time. What have you learned from solving mental puzzels? How have your thought process and assumptions evolved? In which ways have authors manipulated your perception, desires and fears in order to shape your view of particular predicaments? In a world full of material, you might draw from techniques learned from masters. Where might you source inspiration? The following stories are some of my personal favorites;

1) The Others (by Alejandro Amenabar)
2) And Then There Were None (by Agatha Christie)
3) The Lost Ark of the Covenant
4) The Murders in the Rue Morgue (by Edgar Allen Poe)
5) The Cask of Amontillado (by Edgar Allen Poe)
6) Not a Penny more, Not a Penny Less (by Jeffrey Archer)
7) Rebecca (by Daphne du Maurier)
8) Sherlock Holmes Mysteries (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
9) Rear Window (by Alfred Hitchcock)
10) The Fugitive (based on The Sheppard Murder Case by Paul Holmes)

Escape the rat race

Lots of people seek to create wealth with hard work. This is a step in the right direction. Yet, if you take a closer look, and you discover you're exchanging time for someone else's money, then you may not realize you can make money other ways.  Perhaps leaving a traditional rat race is for you?

If you have no control over the level of your salary or no leverage based on the size of audience of your work, then you may not be using your skills in the most effective ways.  You create greater wealth through earning more than you spend.  A bit of research will be needed to identify your interests and to identify what's right for you. Which areas might you consider?

1) You could start a business. Everyone who starts a business hasn't always planned to do that. Not all ventures succeed. Yet, a business is a great way to regulate your own hours, define your own salary and create the freedom to be your own boss. Of course, business also requires a great deal of commitment and responsibility. You need to be willing to get informed about your area and to take risks to develop ideas and expand. To tap into this unlimited profitability, you must also earn it by staying on top of you market and keeping in touch with your customer wants and needs. 

2) You could invest in items that appreciate. To acquire what grows in value, people think of real estate, antiques, jewelry and other items which hold value or appreciate over time. You can also learn to make money in real estate markets by buying property to renovate and resell or, by buying to rent or lease to pay your mortgage and make a profit. Many people learn as they go, even with little money. They key is to consult competent real estate advisors and read on market trends.

3) You could invest in good risk companies. Stocks don’t have to seem like a foreign language. What products and services do you love so much that you would tell other people about them? Remind yourself you may earn more of a profit when you buy than when you sell. Mutual funds also have a 5-10% index of annual growth.  Don't knock that.  You may choose to look into bigger risks as you gain faith in your evolving knowledge.  Investment brokers can guide you and you can learn. 

4) You could package and sell yourself. Why not put together CDs, books, or life experience in ways that other people could benefit? Your lessons-learned could be worth far more than you realize.  Self-help, personal growth and motivational coaching is an increasingly popular areas.  As you develop products and services around your own creative visions or ideas, you’ll realize that your intellectual work and yourself as a person are very marketable commodities. Value yourself.

Pull yourself together

Think of all the occasions when you felt forced to pull yourself together. What did it feel like? Have you ever felt embarrassed?  To write about these events may trigger memories of the awkwardness, the fear, the desire to put forth a facade, so people didn't know what you really thought or felt.  All of these things aren't that bizarre. Some people hide from reality quite regularly. Among some of recognizable characters and stories, you might remember when;

1) Mickey Mouse was going to marry Minnie Mouse and nearly changed his mind based on the sorts of qualms that appeared in the bubble above his head. If it was you, would you have backed out?

2) Clark Kent contemplated revealing his true identity of Superman to his love, reporter Lois Lane, but anxiety and fear caused him to decide against it.

3) Miss Piggy was trying to open herself up to Kermit the Frog and he wasn't on the same romantic wavelength. You'll recall her engaging in karate moves to take her mind off rejection and help her regain composure.

4) Gilligan made an effort to express his feelings to the movie star, Ginger Grant, on Gilligan's Island, but he managed to fall out of a palm tree and become a laughing stock instead of being taken seriously.

5) During the Star Wars trilogy, Luke Skywalker battled evil creatures to save the galaxy and finally gathered the courage to express his love to Princess Leah, only to discover that she was his long-lost, real sister.

6) During Shrek, Donkey had cold feet about mating with affectionate Dragon yet, he quickly got over it when wife gave birth to cross-species offspring. Were they quads or quintuplets? So as to keep tabs on the brood, he didn't have time to think. 

7)  James Bond always seemed suave about romancing a new dame, regardless of the dangerous villains chasing him down the road.  He somewhow made time for a martini and a sexy woman.

Be intuitive

If the time comes when you sense that you aren't happy with aspects of yourself, then you may choose to do something about it.  You make your own rules for personal changes.  When will you choose to follow your intuition? It’s your prerogative to decide the what, where, when and how you will make personal changes.  You can get a special kind of satisfaction out of making efforts to help yourself.  You’re in charge.  What will you do next?  It's ultimately up to you.

Increasing numbers of people experience benefits as they make regular, positive changes.  They learn to detect when their thoughts and behaviors aren't working, when efforts aren't yielding results they seek or, when interactions with people aren't as productive and engaging as they could be. How do you feel about your life?

So, if you were asked right now, what kinds of changes would you like to see in yourself? It’s never too late to rethink who you are, where you are and where you would like to be.  It’s certainly true that keeping in touch with yourself is the best way to know when you really want change.  How do you feel now? Be inutitive.  Learn to read into your senses. They tell all.

Heaven

Heaven is supposed to be a place of supreme happiness. Humans often dream its somewhere in the depths of the infinite, azure sky. They imagine a location that is invisible until the time is right for each person to sense it.

What if heaven wasn't such a far off, idyllic place at all, or even a time or something you might, with good behaviour, eventually see? What if instead, heaven was a state of mind or existence you could experience in mortal life, no matter who you are?

Guardian angels might whisper, "you aren't thousands of miles from heaven, but it’s precisely where you stand."  This kind of insight may cause you to think heaven isn't limited to where you encounter angels and spirits of the righteous after death. Reality may evolve with you, based on how you learn to fly in your own way.

Heaven could be a synonym for self-acceptance, another view of the glory you can open up your eyes to see. This would enable you to experience the celestial powers of Higher Forces, no matter how you might perceive them.

Each time you learn new things, you rise higher to a new level of understanding, to a new heights as you soar through the endless, upper air. You’ll discover the soul that has always lived within your person, and that emerges as you redefine your limits.

Heaven is an attitude where gladness is plenty and worries are few. It surrounds you as you realize you can touch heaven whenever you choose.  You sense perfect balance, reconciliation, love and inner peace. You’re never alone there. If ever you forget, your angel will remind you how you can go anywhere, based on what you think about. If you believe, the question is, have you arrived? If not, when will you go?