Guide To Personal Success – Video
Posted: June 9, 2012 at 5:12 am
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Guide To Personal Success - Video
Personal finance: It's rarely black and white
Posted: at 5:11 am
Every person out there has different income levels, different debt levels, different retirement accounts at work, different stress levels, different risk tolerances, and so on. All those issues matter.Thats why its personal finance.
Lets look at two people, Bob and Charlotte. Each of them has only one outstanding debt, a $100,000 mortgage with a 3.75% interest rate that has 28 years to go.
The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.
Bob is single and doesnt enjoy dating, so he plans on remaining single for the rest of his life. He wants to retire early so he can get involved with managing the local food pantry, where he works part time right now. He is fully funding a Roth IRA and contributing 20% a year to his 401(k), but he still has extra money each month because he lives simply. He doesnt really enjoy taking risks and he strongly desires having debt freedom as a personal goal as soon as possible.
Charlotte is married with four children. She and her husband love to go on family trips and plan to keep on traveling as long as they are both healthy.She contributes some to retirement enough to get her employers match but she intends to stick with her wonderful career until she cant do the work any more. Charlotte was thrilled to get a mortgage with such a low rate because it meant she has a bit of extra money free to help her children enjoy extracurricular activities and help her parents out as they struggle with retirement. Charlottes biggest focus in life is bringing up her children well.
Bob and Charlotte are facing the same debt situation, but are living very different lives. If I were giving these two people advice, Id tell Bob to pay down his mortgage quickly and tell Charlotte to make minimum payments for now.
Personal finance is rarely black and white. Every person out there has different income levels, different debt levels, different retirement accounts at work, different stress levels, different risk tolerances, different personal and professional goals, different levels of family support, and so on.
All of those issues matter. Thats why its personal finance.
Right now, in my life, I am closer to Charlottes situation. We have similar goals in that we want to raise our children well, and we both have multiple children and a spouse. However, I dont really enjoy travel all that much and feel more like Bob when it comes to retirement in that Id rather be careful with my money now and retire a bit earlier.
My closest friends are either single or married without kids. They have different income levels, different goals, and different risk tolerances. Some of them are like Bob. Others are like Charlotte. Most of them really arent like either one of them. Every time I talk with my friends about money, Im fascinated to find how everyone is doing something different, but everyone has sensible reasons for doing what theyre doing.
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Personal finance: It's rarely black and white
Aerobic excercise and fat loss – Video
Posted: at 12:14 am
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Aerobic excercise and fat loss - Video
Travel: Five great free things you can do in Bangkok
Posted: at 12:14 am
BANGKOK Chaos is part of Bangkoks charm.
But the savvy traveller quickly learns how to navigate Bangkoks legendary traffic jams and discover its soul, a mix of urban jungle and Buddhist serenity where shopping and eating are national pastimes.
Despite the weak U.S. dollar, Bangkok remains one of the best deals in Asia. Some of the worlds tastiest street food sells for as little as 25 baht (80 cents) a plate. Beat traffic by zipping down side streets in a tuk-tuk or cruising up the Chao Praya on public express boats for stunning views of the citys premier attractions both for about a dollar. Other favourite outings are free:
Lumpini Park: An oasis of tropical gardens and paved jogging paths in the middle of the city. Beat the heat by avoiding the park in midday. There are early morning tai chi classes and after work aerobics classes. You can rent paddle boats, take the kids to one of Bangkoks best outdoor playgrounds or marvel at the massive monitor lizards in the lake.
Chatuchak Market: Browsing is free at the largest outdoor market in Thailand, and its a sight to see whether or not you take something home. Chatuchaks thousands of stalls are divided into sections that include antiques, home decor, clothing and food. You can find everything from Buddha statues and Thai handicrafts to handmade jewelry and the occasional endangered species in the live animal section. For upscale, air-conditioned window shopping, head to shopping malls Siam Paragon, Emporium or Central World.
Temple hopping: Catch some karma at Bangkoks many Buddhist temples, known in Thai as wats. Some of the most popular, Wat Po and Wat Arun, ask foreigners to pay a minimal entrance fee but hundreds of others are free, including the impressive Temple of the Golden Mount, also known as Wat Saket. A temple compounds shaded walkways and quiet corners are a perfect place to escape the sensory overload on Bangkoks busy streets.
Flower market: Bangkoks largest flower market, Pak Klong Talat, is open 24 hours but its busiest just after 2 a.m. when traders unload their fresh-cut blossoms in bulk. Its a kaleidoscope of colours with an incredible selection of orchids at jaw-droppingly cheap prices. The market is just south of Wat Pho and not far from the Grand Palace in the historical section of old Bangkok.
Patpong Road: For a walk on Bangkoks wild side, take an evening stroll along Patpong Road. It offers the incongruous mix of go-go bars and evening shopping. A thriving night market selling T-shirts, pirated DVDs and other souvenirs runs through the red-light district and spills onto the adjacent Silom Road, which is packed with street food vendors, restaurants and bars.
Have your say
Do you know a great free thing to see or do in Waterloo Region or Wellington County? Write by email to reporter Barbara Aggerholm at baggerholm@therecord.com. Later this summer, shell report back on your suggestions.
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Travel: Five great free things you can do in Bangkok
Flowers talking
Posted: at 12:14 am
A truck driver waits for customers at the Ho Thi Ky flower market
Located in a shallow alley off Ly Thai To Street, Ho Thi KyFlower Marketis one of the biggest flower markets inHo Chi Minh City.
Entering the market in early morning, I was amazed by the sight of roses, lotuses, lilies, daisies and orchids being unloaded from trucks and motorbikes from all over Vietnam and beyond. I was overwhelmed by the pleasant fragrances of hundreds of varieties of fresh cut flowers dominating the air, which gave the place the feeling of eternal springtime.
A few hours later, I returned, but was unbothered by the summer heat of high noon, cooled by the good energy of people shopping for flowers, whose minds I could only assume were full of pleasant thoughts. Despite the heat, I found the atmosphere relaxed with shopkeepers who were happily willing to let me taking photos and interview them.
Flower trading is a tough job. The markets shops open early and many do not close until after midnight, most of the shopkeepers working long hours both during the week and on weekends.
But, just like flowers they sell, there is something tender, gentle, natural and polite about these shop attendants, who spend a large chunk of their lives surrounded by the citys most beautiful flowers.
Bundles of flowers for sale at the Ho Thi Ky flower market
When I was born, the flower market was already here. Our shop offers orchids from gardens in Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Long An, Da Lat and Thailand. Prices change a bit everyday, said Duong Thi Kim Thoa, 20, a shopkeeper at a small flower stall at Ho Thi Ky.
Thoa said because it was one day before first day of a new lunar month, prices were higher.
Whereas buying fresh flowers on a regular basis is more common in northern Vietnam, in HCMC most fresh flowers end up decorating events such as weddings and funerals.
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Flowers talking
Indian-American author talks yoga’s original concepts at Lemont temple
Posted: at 12:14 am
Predicting a yoga rush in the Chicago area, Laura Jane Mellencamp moved to Naperville from Los Angeles in 1995.
I knew with the baby boomers aging and yoga shifting from a California thing to an America thing, moving to the heartland would be interesting, said Mellencamp, a yoga therapist and founder of a classical yoga studio in Downers Grove.
And she was right.
According to a poll in Yoga Journal, a popular magazine for yoga practitioners, there were 6 million yoga practitioners in the U.S. in 1994. By 2006, that number had increased to more than 16 million, according to the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
Mellencamps classical yoga form was one of the topics of discussion in Lemont Sunday at the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago.
There, Rajiv Malhotra, author of Being Different, an account of Indias spiritual traditions, discussed yoga, his book, and answered questions.
Malhotra spoke to those in attendance about the popularization of yoga in America, and how American culture has consumed only parts of classical yoga.
This just makes it easier for Indian traditions to be used in a cookie-cutter fashion, he said. But the reality is ... concepts like yoga have lost their essence through translation and simplification.
Malhotra explained that even sanskrit words like om and yoga are incorrectly translated to make them easier to understand.
Its a thought Mellencamp echoed. She said she is concerned that the yoga she knows is not whats being taught anymore.
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Indian-American author talks yoga’s original concepts at Lemont temple
Seattle nonprofit puts yoga to work behind bars
Posted: at 12:14 am
by JOE FRYER / KING 5 News
KING5.com
Posted on June 7, 2012 at 8:46 PM
Updated today at 6:39 AM
GIG HARBOR, Wash. - After watching the women who calmly enter a prison activity room and spend two hours a week practicing yoga, it is hard to imagine that any one of them is serving hard time.
But several of the women have been convicted of serious crimes, including murder. Yoga classes at the Washington Correctional Center for Women provide an escape from the inmates' sometimes volatile lives behind bars.
One of the women, Alyssa Knight, wears glasses as she glides between yoga positions. She resembles a college student, not a convicted criminal, but she is now eight years into a 21-year sentence for second-degree murder.
"I just ended up hanging out with some guys that decided to rob somebody, and in the course of that, they shot the guy," she said.
It was a costly lesson for Knight, who was a college student at the time. But yoga is helping her put that lesson into focus.
"It's all about balance," she said. "Not just balance when you"re standing on your mat, but balance within, and a way to look at the world, to find peace in any situation."
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Seattle nonprofit puts yoga to work behind bars
Comparison between Life Coaching and Therapy or Counseling.wmv – Video
Posted: June 8, 2012 at 3:20 am
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Comparison between Life Coaching and Therapy or Counseling.wmv - Video
127 – Awakening Life-Coaching Services – Video
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One year after near-retirement, Grand Street coach on verge of city title
Posted: at 3:20 am
After another disappointing playoff finish last June, Melvin Martinez gathered his team together in the stands at MCU Park. There, shocking everyone from longtime players to assistant coaches he has known all his life Martinez announced his plans to retire.
I felt like they needed a new coach, Martinez said on the eve of leading second-seeded Grand Street into its first baseball final against No. 4 George Washington Friday at 7 p.m. in Coney Island. Ive had some great talent for so many years. Not to ever make the championship, maybe its the coaching. I was beginning to feel like someone else should take over.
Christina Santucci
Grand Street Campus coach Melvin Martinez nearly retired after last season, but stuck with it and has the Wolves within one win of their first city title.
The response shocked Martinez. Virtually the entire team, fresh off a humbling sweep at the hands of Tottenville, reacted with anger and disbelief. In the coming days and weeks, he was borderline harassed by players to stay, ace left-hander Gerry Gonzalez, Maryland-bound shortstop Jose Cuas and catcher/third baseman Ernesto Lopez leading the charge.
Lopez, in fact, threatened to quit and Cuas said he and his younger brother Alex came to Grand Street because of Martinez.
We wanted to win a ring with him, Lopez said. We told him, next year, our last year, dont do that to us. We were trying to do anything to make him stay.
The team went to Martinezs wife, Lori, too, begging her to convince him. Over the summer, he mulled over the decision, weighing the positives and negatives. In August, at Loris urging, he relented and decided to return.
She knew I would be depressed if I wasnt coaching, said the 43-year-old Martinez, an assistant principal at P.S. 257 in Brooklyn.
Early in September, he sent out a text to the team for fall practice. There, the teams leaders promised Martinez a title, which they are one win away from. Martinez, in his 17th season, has been reinvigorated this spring, coaching this loaded team that has won 20 straight games against PSAL foes after a surprising league-opening loss to Midwood.
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One year after near-retirement, Grand Street coach on verge of city title