Here is some great info I got from the Jack Canfield Coaching Team…  Let me know what you think.

It’s that time of year when most of us make a conscious effort to acknowledge what we are grateful for in our lives. Some even have a family tradition of asking each person at the holiday table to share what blessings they feel they’ve received. Regardless of the trials or difficulties we may have faced or are currently facing, we walk away from the exercise humbled, but feeling indebted for what the universe has brought into our lives.

How would your life change if you made this more than a once-a-year event? What if you made the time to express your gratitude and show appreciation for what is going on in your daily life?

Jack teaches that expressing gratitude is one of the ways to activate the Law of Attraction in your life. A key element in creating and attracting what you want is to focus your thoughts and attention to the great things that are already in your life. By doing so, you open yourself up to receive all the goodness the universe has in store for you.

Keeping a written daily account of the abundance in your life, in addition to mentally recognizing your good fortune is important. Jack teaches the importance of keeping a Gratitude Journal, something to help you log your personal expressions of gratitude. Journaling your gratitude will help raise your awareness of all the beauty and joy that surrounds you each day that you may have otherwise taken for granted.

WOW, it’s been 6 months since my last blog post…   how time flys!

About 4 months ago we moved from my home town in Florida to Cathy’s home town in Indiana.  You are probably wondering WHY I would leave beautiful Flordia for Indiana?

Well, I have one word for you… BABY!   We wanted to be here by Cathy’s family to have our 2nd baby girl, Claire Marie.  So here we are!

Baby Claire was born on March 31, 2010… 8.6 lbs!  She was happy, healthy, and beautiful!  What more could we ever ask for!  We are so blessed to have two amazing daughters!

She is now almost 8 weeks old already and it’s definitely time for me to get back to blogging!

I have a new found commitment and desire to build a successful online business and my blog is a very important part of that.

So… I’m back and ready to start providing amazing content for all of my readers and subscribers!

Lets do this!

Aron Parker

This is one of my favorite times of the year… When we take time to reflect on what and who we are thankful for no matter how chaotic it may be.

I invite you today to take a moment and reflect with me on what we have to be thankful for. It may be different for each one of us, non the less, I encourage you to spend some time today and think of those things.

I am so grateful and blessed to have such a beautiful wife and happy / healthy daughter with another baby on the way!

I am thankful that you are taking the time to read my blog and I wish you a very happy, memorable and safe Thanksgiving!!

ENJOY YOUR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

Learn to Be Thankful for What You Already Have by Jim Rohn

Is thankfulness a survival skill? Perhaps most of you would respond with, “No, Jim, thankfulness is not a key to survival,” and I would tend to agree with you. Most of us have probably already solved the necessary problems of survival, gone beyond that and are now working to achieve our desires. But let me give you this key phrase, “Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” I believe one of the greatest and perhaps one of the simplest lessons we can learn in life is to be thankful for what we have already received and accomplished.

Both the years and the experiences have brought me to where I stand today, but it is the thankfulness that opened the windows of opportunities, of blessings, of unique experiences to flow my way. My gratitude starts with my parents who raised me, gave me an incredible foundation that has lasted me all of these years and continues with the mentors that I’ve met along the way who absolutely changed and revolutionized my life, my income, my bank account, my future. I am also very thankful for the people, the associations, the ideas, the chance to work and labor, and to produce results; all of that has brought me to this place, to this weekend. I’m grateful for it all.

What a unique opportunity each one of you here has, so many of us; representing different countries, nations and cultures, to appreciate the uniqueness of our own experiences that has brought us all here, together, for these three days to learn new skills and sharpen old ones. For the countries we represent, we have freedom and liberty. These are extraordinary times, about 11 years ago the walls came tumbling down, in Germany, and it started a wave of democracy and freedom like the world has never seen. We as a country and as a world have so much to be thankful for. Always start with thanksgiving; be thankful for what you already have and see the miracles that come from this one simple act.

Now thankfulness is just the beginning; next, you’ve got to challenge yourself to produce. Produce more ideas than you need for yourself so you can share and give your ideas away. That is called fruitfulness and abundance. Here’s what I think fruitfulness and abundance mean: to go to work on producing more than you need or yourself so you can begin blessing others, blessing your nation and blessing your enterprise. Once abundance starts to come, once someone becomes incredibly productive, it’s amazing what the numbers turn out to be. But to begin this incredible process of blessing, it often starts with the act of thanksgiving and gratitude, being thankful for what you already have and for what you’ve already done. Begin the act of thanksgiving today, and watch the miracles flow your way.

Most of my TV watching is with Cathy when we watch IDOL or So You Think You Can Dance.  Sometimes we will watch Seinfeld or another show while eating dinner, but really that’s just cause Cathy wants to.  It is very rare that I watch TV just to watch TV.  It is such a wast of time to me.  OK, I do watch UFC on Spike about once a week, but that’s it.  The only other time I watch TV is if I’m watching a movie with Cathy, but I don’t put that in the same category as regular TV.

Ok, so how much TV do you watch?  Come on, leave a comment and let me know…

Here are some Startling TV Facts! (from SparkPeople)

If you find it hard to escape the sights and sounds of the tube, or if watching your favorite show turns into more wasted hours than you planned, you’re not alone. Americans watch TV for an average of 4 hours every day; even when we’re not watching, the television is on- for almost 8 hours a day in the average home. Have you ever realized how much TV has become a part of our lives? Here are some more startling facts, from the non-profit organization, TV-Turnoff Network:

By age 65, the average American has seen 2 million TV commercials. Many of the commercials we see show appetizing foods-fast food, junk food, soda, alcohol, sugary cereals, and candy. Think “out of sight, out of mind.”

The average American youth spends about 900 hours per year in school, and over 1,000 hours per year watching TV. While you can’t place all the blame on TV, soaring rates of childhood obesity are a result of both poor nutrition and an inactive lifestyle. Limit the amount of time your kids (and yourself, leading by example) watch TV and encourage more physical activity like walking the dog, helping with yard work, playing sports, or other active hobbies.

Think it would impossible to turn off your TV for an entire week? Imagine how much more free time you would have if you didn’t spend time watching TV! There are lots of fun (and healthy) things you could do with your newfound time. Here are some examples:

• Start a vegetable garden or plant flowers
• Take a class–drawing, woodworking, sewing–whatever interests you
• Take a trip to the grocery store. Without the usual rush, take the time to compare labels, find new foods, and stock up on fresh fruits, veggies and healthy snacks.
• Write a letter to someone you haven’t seen in awhile
• Spend more time with your pet!
• Go for a walk or play a game of Frisbee.
• Prepare healthy bag lunches for the family.

Learn even more…

http://www.TrashYourTV.com

http://www.TurnOffYourTV.com

I first read “Father Forgets” many years ago while reading Dale Carnegie’s best seller “How to Win Friends & Influence People”.

It hit me pretty hard then, but now that I am a parent, it really sinks in.

This beautiful story casts light on a perspective we can often miss as parents.

Children don’t know what we know. It’s up to us to have the love, the patience, and the kindness to teach them all they need to learn, and remember that they do not know what we know.

Think of this story before you decide to criticize somebody, especially a child, even if you think you are right.

If you prefer to listen to the audio, click here.

Father Forgets:

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, ‘Goodbye, Daddy!’ and I frowned, and said in reply, ‘Hold your shoulders back!’

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive – and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. ‘What is it you want?’ I snapped.You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding – this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: ‘He is nothing but a boy – a little boy!’

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother’s arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

- W. Livingston Larned