Relaxing or Nerve-Racking? How Men & Women Rest

Have you ever wondered why men and women rest? There is a noticeable difference and gender preference when it comes to how we relax.

Here are some things guys like to do to relax.

1. Watch a ballgame.


2. Read the newspaper.


3. Take a nap.


4. Go fishing.


5. Go to the beach.

Here are some things women do to wind down and rest.

1. Take a hot bath.


2. Listen to instrumental music.


3. Read a book.


4. Go for a walk.


5. Call and talk to a friend.

Here are some things men & women can try to do together, but don't always enjoy doing. Of course there are reasons why.

1. Going to any place relaxing with shops nearby.

Guys don't enjoy shopping, neither do they groove on spending money. Women could shop until their heart stops beating. Men however don't find shopping relaxing whatsoever. On the contrary, for guys shopping is exhausting.

2. Going to the health club.

Guys love to see their women workout and stay trim. To work out together however can get a bit old, while also somewhat distracting to his own workout routine. Of course bonding and cooing over each other early on is fun, but once you're together a guy needs some space and time for a good workout.

Perhaps once or twice a week a combined workout is invigorating relationally and physically. It is important however to maintain a proper balance and afford your man some space to train and relax his brain.

3. Visiting family.

Everybody wants their special someone to be embraced by and accepted among family. Some find it very fun to spend time with family. Nevertheless just because you enjoy your family, doesn't mean your special someone will. Be courteous and polite, but don't go overboard always spending time with the extended family unless both are in agreement.

These are just three extremely irritating and annoying things that come into play relationally. At the end of a long hard work week, there must be ample time to relax and recuperate.

Relationships ironically can also be a bit exhausting at times unless you are aware of each other's personality, personal preferences, and needs. Be alert, attentive, and take pride in having personal time.

Know thyself and thy beloved to ensure the right amount of relaxation in your relationship.

Online Banking - How You Can Keep Your Money Safe

Is online banking safe?

To those who fear being ripped off by cyber-thieves, the answer is a resounding "no." There are criminals lurking online just waiting for an opportunity to steal your banking information, they will tell you. Yes, it's true, there are cyber thieves waiting to retrieve your information. Just as there are thieves waiting to steal your mail and retrieve your vital information, or thieves waiting to steal your credit cards and rip you off.

But, if you fear doing your banking online there is one thing you need to know. Online banking can actually HELP keep you safer, IF you follow simple safety tips.

How can online banking help keep you safer? By allowing you to monitor your account between statements. How many times have you received your statement only to find something was amiss? Perhaps you find a check you remember writing, only it's for an amount greater than what you wrote it for. Or you find ATM purchases and withdrawals you didn't make. If you're able to spot problems quicker, you're able to avert a disaster down the line.

Online banking can be safe if you follow certain safety rules:

Be very careful when choosing passwords for online accounts

Use some common sense. Don't choose your birthdate. Don't choose pets' names if you carry those names around with you in your purse or wallet, or if those around you are familiar with your pets' names. Thieves are smart enough to try birthdates and pet names. Use strong passwords – that means a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, symbols and numbers that can't be easily guessed. Some experts suggest long words, or two long words broken up with symbols or numbers.

Do not share your passwords with anyone

Well, that certainly seems simple enough. However, are you inadvertently sharing your password with strangers? Do you have passwords written down in your purse or wallet that could fall into the wrong hands if lost or stolen? And, remember, it's not just strangers you have to worry about. According to one survey done by www.idtheftcenter.org the victim respondents indicated that 43% of them thought they knew the thief; 28% said the thief had done this to other family members as well.

Don't have a file on your computer with your passwords

Again, a computer, particularly a laptop, can be stolen, along with all your sensitive passwords. And, if you ever get rid of your old computer make sure you take out the hard drive and destroy it, along with all sensitive data.

Use different passwords for different accounts

If you only use one username and password for all accounts and that information is compromised for one account, it's then compromised for all accounts.

Don't respond to emails asking for personal information

No matter how official the email looks, don't give out your personal information. If you receive an email saying your account is going to be suspended, call the bank yourself, with a phone number from your bank statements, not a phone number provided in the email. And, never click on a link in such an email.

Don't give personal information in unsolicited phone calls

If you receive a phone call purporting to be from your bank and they ask for personal information, don't give it to them. Again, call your bank with a phone number from your own bank statements and see if the phone call is legitimate.

When using an ATM, don't allow anyone to see you keying in your code

So you look a little paranoid when you cover the keypad with your body or hand. It's your money and information you're protecting.

Pick up your mail as soon as possible

Don't let your mail sit in your box overnight. There may be a banking statement just waiting for a thief. And, if you can, purchase a locking mailbox which will thwart a future thief.

Check your online account regularly

Monitor your account to check for any unusual activity.

Online banking can be a wonderful timesaver. It can allow you to write bills online, transfer money between accounts and avoid long lines at the bank. And, if you follow basic safety rules it can also be a stress-free endeavor.

The Prisoner And The Pauper - An Inmate's Home Is His New Castle

When a small Midwestern town cheers the arrival of 1,200 criminals and cordially invites them to stay for a year or more, you get the feeling that something just ain't right.

Here's how the story goes:

The good people of New Castle, Indiana, a Rust Belt community of 18,700, is finally going to have its prison filled to capacity. The prison, a joint venture of New Castle Mayor Tom Nipp and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, was built in 2002 with the hopes of bringing new jobs to the economically strapped area. Of course, New Castle prison jobs were based on the promise that the facility would quickly fill. But apparently the citizens of the rest of the state did not cooperate, for five years later, Indianans had only committed enough serious crimes to inhabit New Castle's new castle to half capacity. Looking to nip this epidemic of Hoosier wholesomeness in the bud, Mayor Nipp roused Governor Daniels to round up some ruffians, and after a deal for some Californian non-conformists fell through, Daniels hit pay dirt as Arizona agreed to send 1,260 tanned inmates their way.

"There's no end to the positives that will come with this!" exclaimed Nip, noting the approximately 230 jobs that will be created by the influx of southwestern recruits of ill repute. "Hey, we're all about getting jobs to this town," agreed Shawn Edwards, a New Castle resident who works at one of the town's few thriving occupations—home repossession. Meanwhile, no less of an authority than J. David Donahue, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction, was sent to speak to the New Castle Rotary Club to calm the fears of the town's few skeptics. "They wanted to know if any [of the Arizona imports] are sex offenders or gang members," Donahue related. "They are not," he repeated firmly, as if to imply the new prisoners were nothing more than mere loiterers or maybe guys with a few unpaid parking tickets.

But exactly what quality of jobs are these? Indeed, in better times, Chrysler Corporation was the town's leading employer, and salaries of $60,000 were commonplace in New Castle. In contrast, the prison jobs start at a measly $9/hr., although if you survive the first ninety days (and despite Donahue's denial, working in a prison IS dangerous), you could then be eligible for up to $11/hr. "They aren't Chrysler jobs," agreed Edwards, in between repos, "but it's better than nothing." And even Randy Rendfeld, the feisty editor of New Castle's town newspaper could write nothing critical. "When someone comes in bringing jobs, and it's not a nuclear waste dump or landfill, it's welcome," Rendfeld shrugged.

As a Catholic, one comes away from the New Castle dilemma with mixed emotions. On the one hand, John Paul II clearly states in his encyclical Laborem Exercens that, "A workman's wages should be sufficient to enable him to support himself, his wife and his children," and even the $11/hr. rate doesn't come close to that. But on the other, as Pope Leo XIII said in Rerum Novarum (the first social encyclical), "broken in body and spirit . . . men would have gladly freed themselves from this galling slavery . . . but human respect, or the dread of starvation makes them [work]." In other words, it is still better to give this low-wages job to a family man, for although it might not keep their house out of Edwards' hands, at least it can stop his family from starving. Plus, a family man is more likely to be diligent on the job than some drifter or college kid, who, for that kind of cash, would probably stay at his computer station rather than make the rounds and risk being beaten or raped.

But as pitiful of a place as 21st century American capitalism has made little towns like New Castle, it could be worse. It could be the site of the 2008 Democratic—or Republican, if Rudy G. is nominated—National Convention, in which case they would not only host adulterers, con artists and accomplices to murderer, but would have to pick up their tab too.

Jesus - The Only Way!

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also]. 1 John 2:23

In our present day and age, there are many who believe in God, yet fail to believe in His Son as the Doorway through which we come to Him.

Throughout this letter we have discovered that John was writing concerning Gnostic teachers who proclaimed that Jesus was the "Way shower" but did not believe Him to be the Way. As in Johns day, there are many that teach God as a "higher power" or as an impersonal "Universal Force" but as the Gnostic's, fail to include Jesus Christ into their beliefs. Look at various new age teachings and you will find that while many of these teachers speak positively of Jesus, they don't view Him as the only begotten Son of God or as an absolute necessity to a relationship with the Father.

In speaking to Thomas Jesus said,

...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Every day millions attempt to come to God through their religious ideas and philosophies while God has said that for one to attempt to enter His fold apart from His Son, is the same as a thief trying to enter a home and plunder it!

In John 10:1 Jesus said,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

In Genesis chapter 28 we find the story of a man named Jacob, who after a long journey became weary and set up camp for the night; after falling asleep, Jacob dreamed of a ladder that stretched from earth to heaven. We read in Genesis 28:10-12,

And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put [them for] his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it...

and verses 16-17 we also read,

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew [it] not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful [is] this place! this [is] none other but the house of God, and this [is] the gate of heaven.

These verses are an allegory - a spiritual parallel - concerning Jesus who said in John 1:51,

...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Again, Jesus says in John 10:9,

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Jesus is the door, He is the gate of heaven and if you will ever know God, then you must come through Him!

In Matthew 22:11-14 we find the parable of a man that came to a wedding but had no wedding garment, in the same way many want want to know God, but they aren't properly dressed for Him; the only way to be spiritually dressed is to be dressed in a way that is acceptable to God and the only acceptable garment is for one to be robed with the wedding garment of God's righteousness; this righteousness can only be found through Jesus Whom God gave in your behalf.

Ask many what they believe about spiritual things and they may reply, "I believe in God" and while this is a good starting point, it is only the first step. The apostle James says,

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19

Dear friend, in a day and age when the world proclaims many "Paths to God" I would encourage you to realize that there is only one way and that way is through Jesus and His finished work on your behalf.

Jesus is the Door, He is the Gate of Heaven and He is the only Way to know peace with the Father.

What Are You Really Afraid Of?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

I recently presented my "Are You Ready to Start Living Your Dreams?" workshop for a group of women. At the end of the session, a workshop participant came up to speak with me. She shared that God had placed it on her heart to start a ministry for single moms but she just couldn't move forward.

I listened for a few minutes as she laid out her vision for her ministry – its name, mission, where it would be located and other strategic matters. Once she finished speaking, I had just one question for her, "What are you really afraid of?" It was clear from our conversation that this young woman had prayed and God had answered her prayers, yet she was stuck.

It's not uncommon that as you identify your purpose and want to move forward in fulfilling your destiny, doubt shows up in the form of fear. It can be the fear of failure, success, self-doubt or something else. Whatever form it comes in, fear can have you second-guessing yourself – "Did I really hear from God?"

If God has given you a dream and you want to accomplish it, remember His promise in Jeremiah 29:11. He would not place a dream, mission or purpose in your heart, if He was not going to equip you to carry it out. Part of God's equipping is to help you through any fear that may be holding you back from moving forward and your ultimate success.

You are God's beloved, His chosen one. If you depend on Him to help you reach your dreams, He is able to take away all fear.

Action Challenge for You – Answer the question: "What am I really afraid of that's stopping me from moving forward in God's plans for my life? Next, decide what you're going to do about it. Then take action!

Get Money In Your Pockets Faster Through Deposit Acceleration

An easier way to track and consolidate deposits for faster access to funds is deposit acceleration. Deposit Acceleration makes your cash to go up and to become easier to run. Money which you possess and from across your association are without delay accredited to your accumulation deposit and are ready for being exploited, not considering of where deposition are made.

The Deposit Acceleration data keep you up to date of how each deposit is contributing to the company's cash rise. Your depositors can make deposits at any bank capable of accepting commercial deposits. There is no need for special requirements, arrangements with specific branches. Deposits are received and accredited to your chosen account. Due to this offer you can get access to your company funds faster.

Funds deposited across the country are immediately accredited to your accumulation account. This kind of deposit eliminates the need for wires, internal mail, and overnight transfer procedures. Deposit Acceleration data are simple to read because you can choose how the information on them is planned.

Details for the deposits made by each of your locations are presented according to the structure of your company, so you can easily see sales earnings to deposits. It eliminates the need to manually transfer funds between your company's accounts. If you have several retail or franchise locations, make regular deposits, want easier to make deposits where it's suitable for you, and want better control over your cash flow, you can consider Deposit acceleration the best solution.

Great technique for people who need their money quickly.