This is one of my most favorite times of year.  Perhaps it’s because the weather is beginning to change and the cool down is a welcomed relief to the hot, humid days of a summer here on the Gulf Coast! Even as a child, I liked Halloween.  Dressing up in a costume and getting more candy than you know what to do with!  Wow!  That’s cool!  And having grown up going to Catholic school, October 31st not only meant trick-or-treat, but it meant that we had the day off from school for November 1st, All Saints’ Day!

The three days that encompass October 31 through November 2 have an interesting history, melding pagan rituals with Christian rites.  The early Celtics celebrated the new year and the end of the summer season on November 1 and believed that October 31 was the evening when the spirits of the departed would visit in search of warmth and good cheer.  Even though the Celtic people of Ireland, Scotland and parts of Great Britain later converted in large numbers to Christianity, they kept in their culture much of their old customs and celebrations.

In modern times, the Christian calendar marks November 1 with the celebration of All Saints’ Day and November 2 as All Souls’ Day.  What I find interesting in all of this is how as a culture, in the U.S. at least, we have come to celebrate death as we leave Summer and enter into Autumn.  Now, I personally believe in celebrating life!  Obviously, Spring means new life and Summer means good life.  Fall, with its coldness and shortened daylight prepares us for the cold, dark days of winter, or death.  But what a joyous celebration to know that the earth is a cyclical place and that in order to again reach Spring and Summer we must simply pass through Autumn and Winter.  

All of this talk reminds me of this little story that I’d like to share with you called the Parable of the Twins.  As far as I know, its author is unknown.

Once upon a time, twin boys were conceived. Weeks passed and the twins developed. As their awareness grew, they laughed for joy: “Isn’t it great that we were conceived? Isn’t it great to be alive? “

Together the twins explored their worlds. When they found their mother’s cord that gave them life, they sang for joy! “How great our mother’s love is, that she shares her own life with us!”

As weeks stretched into months, the twins noticed how much each was changing.  

“What does it mean?” one asked.

“It means our stay in this world is drawing to an end.” said the other.

“But I don’t want to go,” said one. “I want to stay here always.”

“We have no choice,” said the other. “But maybe there is life after birth.”

“But how can there be?” responded one. “We will shed our life cord and how can life be possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us, and none of them has returned to tell us there is life after birth. No, this is the end. Maybe there is no mother after all.”

“But there has to be,” protested the other. “How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?” “Have you ever seen our mother?” said one.“Maybe she only lives in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good.”So the last days in the womb were filled with deep questioning and fear.Finally, the moment of birth arrived. When the twins had passed from their world, they opened their eyes and cried for joy - for what they saw exceeded their fondest dreams.That is birth … and that is death.

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Believe it or not, in life, there is a great equalizer!  It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how much wealth you have sitting in a bank account.  It doesn’t matter how good looking you are or what type of car you drive.  It doesn’t matter what family you were born into or the neighborhood in which you currently reside.  These things make no difference when it comes to the great equalizer.

What is the great equalizer?

Time.

No matter who you are or what you do, you only get 24 hours each day.  No matter the color of your skin or your nationality of origin, you only get 24 hours each day.  No matter the God or gods you do or don’t worship or the philosophies to which you do or don’t subscribe, you only get 24 hours each day.

Time is your MOST valuable asset.  It is a commodity of unmatched worth.

Think about this: if you run out of money, can you get more of it?  Undoubtedly, yes!  In fact, you can go to the mall today and literally waste money on a number of unnecessary items and chances are, at some point, probably in the not too distant future, you can recoup those financial losses by creating more money.  But here’s a fact you may never have really considered:  you can NEVER get back time.  Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

As THE most valuable asset you will ever have at your disposal, time should be treated with the awe and reverence for which it is deserving.  If you need to, invest some money and yes, some time in learning good time management skills.  Learn how to appropriately and effectively prioritize your to-do lists.  Learn how to set, execute and achieve time-sensitive, solution-focused goals.  Learn how to use a day planner.  Learn how to say “no” when “no” is the right response.

Time is the great equalizer.  Be generous with your time when generosity is what is required of you, but also guard your time like the precious commodity that it is.  Time is worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world.  Spend it wisely.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use time management as a means for achieving your self improvement goals, please check out Brian Tracy’s Ultimate Goals Program.  This 6 audio CD program and workbook are a must have for any personal development library.

Thanks for stopping by and please visit again!

-Dr. Graf

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If you have ever had doubts about whether it’s possible for the “average joe” to make a living online (not to mention insane amounts of money) then you are going to want to pay very close attention to this inspirational story…

Friends of mine, Greg and Stephanie Mulac are living that dream and after 6 short months, they built their Internet Marketing empire to a level that allowed Greg to quit his job three weeks ago today!

Greg has now joined Stephanie full-time on their work at home ventures and to celebrate their milestone, they are sharing exactly what got them there!

Keep an eye on these two, because they are the real deal and they won’t disappoint.

If the suspense is too great, check it out Brass Ring Blogging right now:

Click Here!

Personally, I’ve heard a lot about the insane profits that can be made with blogs and blogging, but these two have just proven to me that there’s gold to be mined and many people just don’t get it yet!

What is incredible though, is that Greg and Stephanie don’t just “tell you” about the concepts they’ve used, Brass Ring Blogging actually shows you step-by-step, everything you need to do to create a fully monetized Wordpress blog that has more than 5 separate streams of revenue!

Even their testimonials are the real deal! They actually show blogs that other people have created using their system. And these testimonials are from people who have never successfully designed a profit producing blog from scratch in their life!

If all this isn’t enough to have you planning your own exit from your day job, Stephanie has just raised the bar another notch…

For today only (Saturday, October 14, 2006), anyone who takes advantage of Brass Ring Blogging, will get a custom designed header specific to their blog topic absolutely FREE!

(I think she’s insane, but she’s so happy to have Greg at home she’s still a little giddy — so take her up on this before she comes to her senses!)

This is your opportunity to Grab The Brass Ring and jump on the blogging bandwagon! No matter what else you are currently doing, a professionally built, fully monetized blog will enhance your efforts and Brass Ring Blogging is YOUR CHANCE to do it right!

Click Here NOW!

Thanks for stopping by and please visit again!

-Dr. Graf

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