We begin learning how to make connections very early in life. From the moment we are born a connection is made. Guest blogger and author of the book “Connections, Everyone Happens For A Reason” – Jerry Davich examines just how we can learn to measure those connections we make in life.

Here’s Jerry Davich:

Measuring Life’s Connections

Walt and Marlene met in the first grade after their families moved next door to each other on a one-block street in Upper New York. As childhood chums, both came from broken homes, celebrated First Communion together and attended the same school. As a dreamy young girl, Marlene told herself, “I’m going to marry him someday.”

As teenagers, they faded away from each other. Walt quit school to make a living out of town and Marlene focused on her classroom studies. One day, while Walt visited their hometown, the two accidentally bumped into each other at the movie theater. “Write me sometime,” she sheepishly suggested. He did just that, as often as possible. They kept in touch and met regularly, again, as often as possible.

At age eighteen, Walt confided to his mother: “Mom, I want to marry Marlene.” His mother asked, “Are you sure? It’s for a very long time.” Walt didn’t blink. “I’m sure.” With a $30 engagement ring, he marched into the home of his seventeen-year-old sweetheart, who was doing her homework on the sofa. Walt proposed on the spot. Marlene didn’t blink. On the spot, she said, “Yes!”. Marlene’s uncle ‘gave her away’ at the wedding. Walt and Marlene eventually moved to the construction yards at the southern tip of Lake Michigan where Walt could put his chiseled body and massive hands to work.

They raised two sons. There they began fixing and fusing her poor engagement ring, which often lived down to its $30 price tag. There, they began investing in their 401(k). Not the kind with direct deposits and compounded interest but the plan that stashes away priceless moments and compounded memories. Let’s call it an emotional 401(k), one with life’s special moments squirreled away into memory vaults for decades. As the years peel away, these ‘direct-deposit’ moments draw interest,  priceless moments either banked in the back of your mind, or stashed away through photos, videos, or scrapbooks. Think of it as a 401(k) for the soul.

Walt and Marlene were expert bankers when it came to such life investments. When their sons were young, they loaded up their camper and trekked the country; actually, all fifty states. Once Walt drove 27 straight hours while his wife and boys slept. He didn’t mind it a bit. As the couple got older, they eventually visited more than 35 countries on six continents. They vacationed around the world, as often as possible, usually on a shoestring budget or as part of a tour group. At every port of stay, they deposited their 401(k) memories like sea-side tourists, digging up souvenir shells along a newfound beachfront. Over time their modest home became filled with such souvenirs – a chunk from the Rock of Gibraltar, Atlantic Ocean sand, a bottle of Japanese Saki, tundra from the Rocky Mountains, ash from Mount St. Helens. You get the picture.

Today the couple has been married more than a half century. Their 401(k) of the soul is brimming. You can find Walt using his workman’s hands gently picking a guitar on the front porch or penning mushy love notes, displayed on the kitchen refrigerator, to Marlene: “Life is a journey. Thanks for taking it with me. Love always, Walter.”

Walt’s journey in life taught him many lessons, but none more valuable than connecting with a profound appreciation for each moment, each day, each excursion into the unknown. To prove his point, Walt sat down on his living room recliner and pulled out an imaginary measuring tape from his pocket. He counted off his age in imaginary inches – 10, 20, 50, 60, finally 71 – and he pinched the tape at that spot, watching as he let several feet of invisible years fall to the floor.

“Do you see that?” Walt asked, staring down at the tape on the carpeting. “That’s gone in my life.” Then he looked at the short remaining inches of time left on the imaginary tape. “This,” he said, pinching the spot, “this is what I have left to live. We have no regrets, but I know some people do.”

I share Walt and Marlene’s story – and his imaginary measuring tape – to remind you that regardless of how young you are, how old you are, or how many life souvenirs have been deposited into your 401(k), those inches of life’s past remain on the floor. You can only learn from them. You‘ll never get them back.

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Today – right now, at this moment – is where your personal tape measure gets pinched and your life gets measured. Go ahead and pull out your imaginary tape measure and pinch it at your age today. Now look to the floor. Are you staring at a wreckage of regrets? Are there missed connections there? Missed opportunities? Looking back, what could you have done to take advantage of those missed connections? What should you have done? Either way, as Walt wisely noted, that time is gone. It’s history. It’s in your rearview mirror. And that’s OK.

Now, look up and stare at the remaining “inches” of your life on that imaginary tape measure. How many inches ― years ― are left? Go ahead, play pretend with us and guess. Five years? Ten years? Fifty years? Who knows, right? Regardless, those remaining inches are filled with potential connections to make your life more contented, more meaningful, and more successful. We want to help you ponder these connections, discover them, and ultimately utilize them. What we don’t want is for you to pull out Walt’s imaginary tape measure in five, ten or twenty years, pinch it again, and look back at even more missed connections. That would  be a travesty. That would be the most important connection to miss in your life: Connecting with yourself.

Now is the time to imagine your life with new connections, with renewed connections, and with a new outlook toward every single connection.

Today is the perfect opportunity to change your “shift-in-time perspective,” a term coined decades ago to define the same critical point in all our lives; the one that typically takes place during our middle-aged years when we stop viewing our life from birth to today and start viewing it from today to our life’s end.

Go ahead and ask yourself: Am I connected?

Of course you are. Everyone has connections in his or her life – to family, friends, business associates, loved ones. To one’s past, future, and one’s spirituality. Yet from what we learned talking to thousands of people across the country, too many of us have lost, forgotten, or fractured all too many connections in our lives. Others have let key connections slip through their grasp without ever knowing of their existence.

Now can be the time to adopt a fresh awareness of those connections in your life – past, present and future – and how these unions can transform your perception, your life, and your world.

Think about it.

Why do people endlessly seek companionship, togetherness, and a sense of belonging in our society. Or any society, for that matter? The answer: Human connections.

This primal need –not only timely, but timeless – is our original wireless connection with face to face value and eye to eye contact. No need for Blackberry batteries, a strong cell phone signal, or a laptop computer. The new buzzword of the fast-paced twenty-first century is high-tech “interconnectivity.” Just look at all the cyber-social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Not to mention the millions of “conversations” taking place via email, instant messaging, and in the blogosphere at any given moment.

But at what cost? From what we can tell, the price is human interconnectivity.

Along the way, many of us have become oblivious to this eons-old primitive need. While mass-messaging is easier than ever, key personal connections have slipped through our grasp for unexplainable reasons. These disconnects often cost us a coveted career, a revered relationship, an elusive enlightenment. Sometimes we look back wondering what went wrong more than what went right.

It’s these pivotal connections that reveal who we are and how we got to where we are in life. But more importantly – with your tape measure getting pinched today – you can begin capitalizing on future connections you may have otherwise missed.

For more infomation on Jerry or his amazing book, please visit www.connectionsbook.com.

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There is one key factor that makes the difference between those who fully eliminate panic attacks from their lives and those who do not. The key ingredient is not medication, lifestyle changes, or relaxation exercises. It is when the individual no longer fears the thought of having a panic attack.

The first time a person experiences a panic attack it can feel like their world is falling down around them. Nowhere feels safe as the anxiety becomes like a stalker lurking in the background.

When this happens people begin to either avoid situations that make them anxious or they medicate themselves to the point where they are numb to the fear. I am sure you will agree neither of the above is a satisfactory solution.

The “When Anxiety Attacks” Program  is giving people the ability to immediately stop fearing another panic attack. It is very simple yet amazingly effective.

Available instantly!

Digital download for only: $39.95

Here is how it works:

After a person experiences a panic attack for the first time, the experience can be so impacting that it leaves a strong imprint on the persons psyche. This mental imprint generates a cycle or loop of anxiety whereby the person develops an unhealthy fear of having another panic attack. People can spend anywhere from months to years caught in this repetitive cycle of anxiety.

“When Anxiety Attacks” teaches a technique that now allows that person to break the cycle of anxiety and return to normal everyday living.

The really unique element of the technique is that there is no need for you to regress into your past and find out why you had your initial panic attack in order to get results. All that is needed is your willingness to break out of the anxiety cycle.

What are the symptoms of an anxiety attack?
Keep in mind that not everyone who gets panic attacks has an anxiety disorder. However, an anxiety attack starts suddenly and is often at it’s worst within 10 minutes. An attack may last for hours. Some of the typical symptoms are:

ANY OF THIS SOUND LIKE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW?

If so, you need this course. This program has helped thousands and it will help you!

During this course you will learn about depression as well as the following Anxiety disorders: panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Anxiety Attacks. You might be surprised to learn that Anxiety, OCD and Depression often go hand in hand. These are all real conditions that affect your body, the way you think and how you feel and act. They affect people of all ages, genders, backgrounds, lifestyles, races, and ethnic groups. Because we now know that with the right treatment and support you can get back to enjoying your life. You’ll be more productive and have clear thoughts once again. Most importantly, this course will teach you real life skills that you can use right now to begin living a better life. No fluff, just the facts learn and experienced first hand by a real life sufferer who’s lived it, been through therapy and survived! Steven Diamond answers every question you might have and teaches only what you really need to know. Saving you time and money in the process.

Here’s some of what you will learn:

CD Number One -

Introduction

The Basics

All About Anxiety

Common Fears / Handling Crisis

Taking Action

Causes of your Attacks

Breathing, Silence and Stillness




CD Number Two -

Exploring your Internal Dialog

High Expectations and Nutrition

Anger

Assertive Behavior




CD Number Three -

Guilt and Worry

Over-thinking Scary Thoughts

Getting the Help You Need




4th BONUS CD -

Guided Visual Relaxation Journey - If you can’t sleep at night, you’ll LOVE this CD!

You will learn to consistently elicit the relaxation response, which has a number of healing physiological responses, including increased heart-rate variability and lower pulse rate.

Relaxation therapy has been scientifically and medically proven to:

Decrease Arrhythmia

Improve Focus

Improve Sleep

Improve blood sugar and Cholesterol Levels.

Learning to recall this instant healing property of this pleasurable mental experience will help you to remain positive and focused.

This 4 CD enhanced audio course is not written from a doctor’s point of view, as Steven has only a high school education, but from the viewpoint of an actual sufferer, with key OCD / Anxiety incidents explained in layman’s terms. He hopes you will identify with what he has learned and experienced and in turn helping you to avoid some of the suffering he endured for so long.

Consider this audio course as an owner’s handbook of what to do and how to STOP anxiety and stress from controlling your life. When Anxiety Attacks – what to do and how to make it disappear, will move you, teach you and inspire you to use what you have learned to make the difference in your own life.

Available instantly!

Digital download for only: $39.95

StopStressingNow.com - Connecting To Happiness!

How do you really know if your therapy is working?

Good question huh?

Therapy that works is a two way street. Both you and the therapist are team mates. And it takes a serious commitment on both parts to make sometimes difficult changes in behavior or thinking patterns that you have established over a life time.

It’s always a good idea to discuss with your therapist just what you would like the outcome of your counseling to be. Talk about realistic time frames for reaching realistic goals and agree on how you will measure your progress as you travel down the path of wellness.

Remember to be completely open and honest with your therapist and try your best to establish a solid foundation of communication. Often, this requires an elusive “chemistry” between both of you in which you feel comfortable with your counselor’s personality, approach and style. However, keep in mind that your therapist is not going to be a friend so to speak. They are there to guide you down the path. I like to think of them as a “Tour Guide”. If after the first the first few sessions you are not feeling the “communication chemistry”, I advise that you look for another counselor with whom you will feel more comfortable, open and honest.

Finding the right therapist is only the first step. The real challenge is in understanding in such an emotional state just how effective his or her therapy is for you.

Here are some signs I think are important to look for:

Keep in mind that it’s really up to you to make the changes in your life. In other words… You have to work at it.  An effective counselor can help pinpoint the obstacles in your way. But you have to help by being a good communicator. A good therapist can spot what’s going on and help suggest behavioral changes so you can overcome them. If you find certain obstacles you face involve factors beyond your control, you “Tour Guide” can teach you coping skills that will foster your well being in trying circumstances.

An effective therapist is really good at spotting negative thinking patterns that may be feeding your feelings of sadness, depression or anxiety. By encouraging you to muster up the personal strengths you need and teaching you real skills that really work, you can overcome self-inflicted feelings of hopelessness. Before you know it, you’ll develop a more positive attitude and outlook on life.

You will learn how to make positive changes in your relationships with others, helping you recognize behaviors that may be contributing to a troublesome relationship. A good therapist will teach you new ways of communicating, clearing the way for honest exchanges with people in your life who may be causing you emotional pain.

The best way to spot a great therapist is when they make you think about things or in ways that you never have before. Therapy is not a fast or easy solution. However, if you stick with it, in the end you will feel personal growth that empowers you to control your life and enjoy positive, life-affirming relationships with the people you care most about.

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Behavior Therapy

The goal of Behavior Therapy is to modify and gain control over unwanted behavior. The individual learns to cope with difficult situations, often through controlled exposure to them. This kind of therapy gives the individual a sense of having control over their life.

Cognitive Therapy

The goal of Cognitive Therapy is to change unproductive or harmful thought patterns. The individual examines his feelings and learns to separate realistic from unrealistic thoughts. As with Behavior Therapy, the individual is actively involved in his own recovery and has a sense of control.

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT)

Many therapists use a combination of Cognitive and Behavior Therapies, this is often referred to as CBT. One of the benefits of these types therapies is that the patient learns recovery skills that are useful for a lifetime.

Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation Techniques help individuals develop the ability to more effectively cope with the stresses that contribute to anxiety, as well as with some of the physical symptoms of anxiety. The techniques taught include breathing re-training and exercise.

Medication

Medication can be very useful in the treatment of anxiety disorders, and it is often used in conjunction with one or more of the therapies mentioned above. Sometimes anti-depressants or anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications) are used to alleviate severe symptoms so that other forms of therapy can go forward. Medication is effective for many people and can be either a short-term or long-term treatment option, depending on the individual.

However, the most satisfing therapy is the one you choose for yourself. Let’s face it, no one knows you, like you. Most people do not need expensive face to face traditional therapy. Learning the proper coping skills can in most cases can produce signifigent results. You can do it yourself once you know how.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW to learn how you can begin your journey to a better more peaceful life today!
When Anxiety Attacks

You’ll be so glad you did.

Please Visit Our Resources Page Where You Will Find A Wealth Of Helpful Websites And Information – CLICK HERE!

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We hardly ever stop and truly think about the real deep causes of stress and anxiety in our lives.

Until, we look in the mirror.

Most people realize that things like drinking too much or smoking or the use of drugs can and will age you really fast. But there are other hidden dangers that physically age you even faster if left untreated.

One of them is likely the single most common stressor in modern history. It’s the worry over money. New research shows that it can physically and internally age you 8 years faster if left untreated.

Now think about that for a second.

How old are you right now? Add 8 years.

Both inside and out. Think about it.

Pretty scary isn’t it?
All over some green printed paper?

The good news is…

You can stop that process and even reverse some of the damage already done.

We often spend so much time worried about having that perfect job and making money to have that ever elusive “fat bank account” that we lose sight of the journey of life itself.
It truly is not about the destination. Because the ultimate destination in life is death, when you really think about it.

So why rush to get there?

That’s why learning the life skills I teach to help you slow your mind chatter and refocus your life on what is truly important to you is so vital to our recovery and the process of change.

I can promise you this. If you learn to properly manage the journey OF your life, the job and bank account you so desperately seek will manage themselves. They will come. You can have them. But NOT until you learn to refocus your mind, body and spirit into one single purpose, highly functioning being that lives every moment along the way.

It’s about the journey. Live for today.

Eight years older is a scary thing and it just simply doesn’t have to be.

This can help ——->  When Anxiety Attacks

The choice is yours.

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Over the years, I have met so many whom like myself, have survived attempts at ending their lives. Yet, so many more succeed. But why? Why is it that we reach a point in our lives when living seems like the worst option. When death becomes a better solution then living? What makes us feel like the only way out is to cease to exist?

It’s a very dark place. I have been there myself many times. I wouldn’t wish it – to a monkey on a rock. And have you heard about the latest suicide rates in the military? Check this out…

According to the White House – The number of U.S. Army soldiers who took their own lives increased last year to the highest total since 1993, despite a growing effort by the Army to detect and prevent suicides.

Despite all of this gloom, there is some very good news.
It’s called HOPE…

In a recent research effort by a team of Canadian Scientists may prove vital for developing the treatment of various mental disorders including ‘suicidal act’ as researchers claim to have found a ‘gene’ inside our cells, which control anxiety and stress, according to a EurekAlert press release.

In a major breakthrough, an international research group, led by Michael Poulter at the University of Western Ontario and Hymie Anisman of Carleton University have found that those who commit suicide have more enhanced level of a particular protein in brain cells than those who died due to heart attacks and other reasons.

‘That’ enhanced level of protein affects the specific genes, which controls stress and anxiety and cause the reason of deep mental depression, as researchers found during the autopsies.

Michael Poulter and his team have conducted several autopsies to study the ‘major’ cause behind the suicide and depression. During study, they have found up to 10 times of higher level of ‘exclusive’ protein in the brain cells of those who had either committed suicide or were in long deep depression.

The Michael’s team claimed that ‘those’ proteins that affect the particular gene become the cause of chemical modification in that gene during the process of ‘epigenomic regulation’ that is called DNA methylation.

“The nature of this chemical modification is long term and hard to reverse, and this fits with depression,” said Dr. Poulter by adding that team has found greater methylation process in the suicide brains than that of the normal.

“This research could help in discovery of effective medicine to tackle depression and suicidal instincts,” said Poulter.

At present, for treating the mental disorder, generally researchers focus on treating chemical imbalances in the brain, which sometimes do not effect in treating depression due to genetic malfunctions.

While researchers believe that with the help of this research an effective medicine can be developed to balance the amount of protein that affects a gene that normally help people to cope up with stress.

However, they are still not sure about the circumstances that affect the level of this protein in brain. They are also not sure about the fact that the people who suffer from major depression, but die from other causes, have the same genetic malfunctions as those who commit suicide.

The research was published in the current issue of ‘Biological Psychiatry’.

It’s this sort of cutting edge research that could very well unlock the many secrets of Suicide someday and provide not only a cure, but give hope to so many. That’s what causes suicide in the first place…. a loss of all hope.

These two movies are all about hope.

Patch Adams/What Dreams May Come

Two of my favorites of all time.
I hope you enjoy them too.

Without hope, human’s cease to exist.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call:
1-800-SUICIDE

Or Click Here To Visit Their Website.

StopStressingNow.com - Connecting To Happiness!