Alternate forms of income: exploring the world of freelance writing

I want to find ways to create alternate streams of income for myself. Although I truly love providing customer service, the 9-5 (or 1:30-5:30) route at WalMart is tiresome, and their 'rules & regulations' just do not fit my lifestyle.

One of the things I'm looking at is freelance writing, and Googling "freelance writing jobs" brought me to PayPerPost, which I am currently investigating for its ability to fulfill my needs.

In order to 'claim my blog' they have asked me to post the following phrase: The suspicious exercise trails.

So, I've done it. Now I shall investigate further and decide if this is for me or not.

Good luck to all of you out there who, like I, just don't fit inside the box.

An Inaugural Prayer

You don't have to believe, but please read this and share it, even if you disagree.

Today is a day of light, of hope

Clear vision and the creation of dreams

Blessed dreams, sweet dreams

Dreams worthy of our reality, of our creative force.

There are those of us who see this light, this hope

Oneness, brought forth with us in life

Blessed life, sweet life

Life worthy of our reality, of our creative force.

This moment comes, a fertile opportunity

Brilliant potential and the fulfillment of promise

Blessed promise, sweet promise

Promise worthy of our reality, of our creative force

To this day, this hope, this moment,

Let those of us who see, give our light.

My belief on why God created man...

One of man's questions, in the area of religion or spirituality, has always been "Why did God create man?" Being raised Catholic, I was taught that man was created to worship God. For years, that was an accepted belief for me. This is what the Bible taught. I feel as if I have always "known" there is a God, although my concept of God now is far displaced from that little girl in the uniform. I was also taught that the Bible is the Word of God. I still believe that. However, I do not believe that there is only one book of God's word. Furthermore, I believe that the Bible is imbued with many levels of learning. After all, it has to be. If it is to be a guide for all, then it must address those at all levels of awareness. So, now I can find deeper meaning in the Bible, and it seems the deeper I look, the more "settled" my soul feels.
So, back to the question, "Why did God create man?"
Well, for a while now, I had been having problems accepting what I had supposedly been 'taught' by the Bible. Things like, 'God created man so that he could worship Him.' That just hit me as too egotistical of a reason for God, who, in my belief, has no ego.
My concept of why God created man:
God/Universal Consciousness/One is the potential for all experiences; however, this was only potential for love, happiness, joy, bliss...in short...heaven. One chose to experience heaven, to feel it. On my personal journey, I have found that I can only experience a feeling to the depth that I am also willing to experience its opposite. It's like swinging...you can only go as high forward as you are willing to go backwards. Sure, you could have someone standing under you to stop you from going back, but they'd also have to do the pushing to get you going forward. That's just not swinging...propelling yourself to reach the greatest height you dare.
So, why did God create man? Because He knew that He couldn't experience heaven without hell, joy without sorrow, peace without strife. Our human experience is us, God, choosing to feel. I don't believe that there's a God 'out there' waiting for us to come back to Him. I believe that we are God, experiencing, learning to swing as high as we can, so we can feel the bliss of heaven.
So, swing on......

Level: Physical

Apparently,I have a lot of strong arms helping me here...when I tried to preview this blog before posting it, there were about 20 of those cute little arms lined up at the beginning of my post.

One of my goals, one of the things I need to do for myself, is to become more physically fit। At 49 years old, I feel pretty good about my physical condition। I'm not extremely overweight (I could stand to lose another 10-15 pounds), I have a physically active job, I belong to a gym and workout at least 2x per week, I am aware of what I eat। I have no major health problems, and I attribute that, in part, to my attitude and outlook on life. I refuse to spend my time worrying about coming down with a major disease. I believe that doing so lends energy to the creation of the very situation you don't want. So, instead of worrying about being/getting sick, I try to focus on being/getting healthy.

One of the things I'm doing for myself to become more physically fit is to quit smoking. I've been a smoker, on and off, since I was 15 years old. I have quit in the past, sometimes for extended lengths of time. I'm one of those people who actually enjoyed smoking. (At first, I wrote enjoys, but changed it in keeping with my new outlook, along with my belief that we create what we think about.)

As of now, Sunday, 16 September 2007, I have been a non-smoker for 9 days. I feel great about it, both physically and emotionally. I am proud of myself for the commitment and the self-discipline. I feel great physically, too. The morning cough that was starting to become habitual is gone, my eyes are clearer, I can get through an hour of high intensity dance (one of the classes at our gym is aerobics based on Latin dance moves - it's a blast!!) without getting winded, and I don't smell like a walking ashtray any more!! Seriously, if you are a smoker, and have been so for quite some time, it's very likely that you've forgotten how unpleasant that odor is. Check this out...we have these 'smoke stations' outside our store. I'm sure you've seen them, or something very much like them, outside stores in your area. It's just a big ashtray...with a long neck, and a small opening in the top. Have you ever caught the smell coming from one of those?? At work the other day, I walked past a woman that smelled like one of those smoke stations. I had forgotten how it clings to you...and how distinctive that stench is to a non-smoker. If you're a smoker, and you smoke in your home, or in any enclosed area, the odds are that you smell like that also. I'm not preaching, and I'm not going to become a 'reformed' smoker, who insists that everyone should quit, but seriously, folks, consider it. If the health reasons don't convince you, walk up to the next smoke station you see, take a good whiff of it, and decide if that's what you want to smell like.

So here's to good health.

Love, Light & Joy to you all...

Finding the Answers

One of the wonderful things that I've realized in my lifetime is that I don't have to rely on anyone else to give me the answers to 'life's big questions'. All of those answers are already within each and every one of us. However, you do have to know how to access those answers.

So, how do you do that?

Have you ever picked a 'lucky' number in a lottery drawing? Picked up your Bible to find much needed spiritual advice, and flipped open to the perfect passage without thinking about it? Driven into an unfamiliar town, and found your destination without a map or directions?

Luck? Coincidence? Happenchance? Fate?

These are just a few examples of what some term intuition, ESP, clairvoyance. What it is, truly, is the voice of your Divineness speaking to you, providing for you what you need. These messages can come through like a brick in the head, or like a gentle whispering on the wind. Now, personally, I prefer the gentle whisperings, because those bricks can hurt sometimes! If you're not careful, and aware, though, you can miss those whisperings. That's why it is very important to learn to recognize & trust your intuitions. If you'd like to learn to recognize your own intuition, so you can avoid the bricks, click here to discover one method available to help you do just that.