Spartacus: A World Of Flesh And Heart

Spartacus. The pivotal of a man's show, for sure. A world filled with flesh and blood, pleasure and pain, deviousness and desires. All of it gets your blood on fire and your eyes widen for more.

A wondrous, sinful sight, for sure.

If certain laws were not in place, even Las Vegas would appear to the senses just like this world of Spartacus. City of Sin. Pulled away from the chains of morality and constraints of being virtuous, there is a surge of adrenalin in freedom.

To succumb to such delights can bring one to addiction, thus enslaving you for more and more until reaching an calamitous end where your life is snuffed out by someone who was harmed by your increasing greed and sought vengeance; or, you become indifferent and ultimately bored and thus your life no longer is aflame.

Yet, within this world of pounding, moaning, slicing, moistness, roaring, screaming, squirting, romping, stroking, and luring: a pull to the heart of right and love exists. No matter how much flesh a man can have or want, there is always that ONE that turns him to something greater than what he could ever imagine. He craves for that particular woman. He'll turn the world over for that one person.

When a man loves a woman
Can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world
For the good thing he's found

As the song sung by Percy Sledge, it defines the connection between man and woman when the mind, body, soul, and heart is entwined with, and for, another. One could only hope that the pull, that can not be turned away, to that other is someone of worth and goodness, or else suffering is eminent.

Love does conquer all, rather it is: right or wrong, good or evil, bliss or sorrow. And which ever way the pendulum sways for one human, the absorption of love is a power, a mastery over a force, that can rise or destroy anything in its path.

True Love is mostly seen by, and given to, those who have suffered through the darkest of hours. Only these types of people, those who've traveled that dark lane of life, are the chosen few who can truly recognize that brilliant light. It is always night, before the day.

If you're fated to know love's true essence...wield its power well.

Write Now!

I haven't been the typical writer. I don't write every day like I'm supposed to. I don't even write every week. Well...not on my novels anyway. I'm trying to write once a week for both of my blogs (this one and the one for authors). But I can go months and months and months without writing on my novels.

I should be writing RIGHT NOW, and write now (Heh. Heh.), but I'm sidetracked with all the time that I have to catch up on my TV shows (Once Upon A Time, Fringe, Grimm, Spartacus and very tempted to try to catch up on Eureka and Warehouse 13). Something has to give. I just got too many shows distracting me. It's really bad because I don't have cable so I'm not glued down to weekly times and dates. I let everything build up and then try to watch everything at once.

What am I doing between building up shows to watch? Catching up on my Netflix 3-movie rotation.

I'm a bad, bad, bad writer.

What's worse is that ALL of these distractions just suck away from my art of writing. When I do finally sit down to write, everything sounds so amateurish and feels like a jagged rock trail. It doesn't come out smoothly at all. I found myself editing past writing more than adding new material.

Bad Writer.

Eventually, I get back to the novels and I use these shows and movies to "jump-start" me back into my storytelling.  These are those times where I wish I had more time to relax, to then have the time to write. But time always seems to get away and there's never enough of it.

Oh well. Back to my shows. Oh. You thought I was going to say I'm going to write? Hm.. Maybe tomorrow.

A Screwed Up Life!

Yep. Sometimes you reach that point. Life is just SCREWED UP!

We make decisions; find out they're wrong. People wrong us, abuse us, hate us. We begin to feel that there's no way out. It feels like it's night...All. The. Time.

But in little ways, there's an outlet, a break, somewhere.

I find my outlet in music and in films...especially music.

My current theme song during this time is: 

NO SUCH THING (John Mayer) especially when filled with decisions and choices, after years and years (being that I'm now 40) of life:

All of our parents, they're getting older I wonder if they've wished for anything better while in their memories, tiny tragedies

I'm still young to those older than me, and old to those younger than me, and everyone will tell you that "The grass is not always greener" and "They're always going to be bumps in your life".

And, though these voices are meant to be thoughtful of YOU, and to help you NOT make a bad decision, they all sound like:

 

"Welcome to the real world" she said to me condescendingly"Take a seat, Take your life Plot it out in black and white"

 

There's no solid, logical answer to the WHY NOT question to a decision. WHY NOT do it?! And it all makes you wonder if:

They love to tell you "stay inside the lines" But something's better on the other side

Happily Ever After is what most dream of. LOVE is what we most want. And the absent of happiness and love causes extreme evil...everywhere and in everyone.

The bottom line in decision making is to be truthful to yourself (No "convincing" yourself of this or that), and to make a decision that WILL propel you forward in life.  If you find out it's the wrong decision, at least you made a decision. ("Make a decision," my father would say, "And stick to it.") Make a decision, and then you're OUT of the spot that you were in, and in a different place. Though sometimes it might seem similar, the wrong decision, it is still slightly different.

 

• Identify the wrong pattern. 
• Learn it. 
• Get stronger. 
• Progress.

 

I am invincible I am invincible I am invincible as long as I'm alive

Power. Logic. Love. All these (three) things, together, mind you (always together), leads you to daylight. And fear, which makes you NOT do something, will retain you in the night.

Until Next Time...

Stories & Gamers

I sit a lot next to a Gamer and watch these different worlds that he gets into...different worlds.  The kind of worlds that I like to get into inside my head when I write, or attend, personally, at Renaissance Festivals.

My Gamer's current obsession is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

As I sit and get involved in my posts and forums and the other internet social activities, my Gamer is running around with a flaming, magic sword (a conjured Bound Sword) in one hand and flowing, sparkling magicka of fire in another, killing off a Frost Troll.

I peek up from time-to-time from my typing, and look at this incredible world of graphics where even looking up at the night sky, the clouds slowly flow along gradually revealing stars to peek through before continuing on.

It's a real world!  And it's incredibly BEAUTIFUL!

My Gamer doesn't seem to notice all the little things like the stars, the fleece of snow, the stone steps (each individually designed with its own cracks) and the way the water flows in the rivers. But, I see how beautiful this world is designed and created.

What I also noticed too, are books, yes books, that sit on the shelves of these cabins and castles and huts of homes. You can open these books and read entire stories about this Skyrim world: an adventurer's travels, seeking and killing evil magical creatures; how to travel and where to explore; a short ghost story of a weeping woman that lives near an abandoned cabin. My Gamer doesn't bother to read these novels on the shelves. He's too busy on quests and opening and shutting books just to gain points to level up his character. But it amazes me that there were writers, yes, authors, who took the time to put together and weave entire communities and towns and relationships and religions and politics and...and EVERYTHING inputted into creating this world!

This world is so very close to the Renaissance Festivals that people go to where they can pretend to be whatever they want to be in a live world of Make-Believe. But unlike the "live" fantasy world, where you are constantly reminded that you're still in the "real world" when you have to take out your wallet to buy a funnel cake, or use the porta potty, this Skyrim world is constant...just like a book.

I like the fact that reading novels is an option in this game, and stories are entwined and belief systems are in magical order. I can look at this world and learn a thing or two to incorporate into my own world of story-telling, just like when I absorb information from fantastic films filled also with computer animation.

The imagination takes place in all sorts of places and things.

And it's all such an incredible world!

How Can I Be Attractive?

I use to watch Popeye cartoons when I was younger and I always wondered, "What the heck made Olive Oyl so attractive?" She had no curves, what-so-ever (zip, nothing, nada, none!), she was way thin, and her singing was horrible. Yet she had two muscled men running, drooling after her and constantly trying to win her affections with all kinds of gifts and outtings. Maybe it was the way she clapsed her hands together near her ear and tiled her head in an adoring manner and said, "Ohhhh, Popeye!" It definitely wasn't what she wore!

It was the kind of thing that makes you wonder, "Why is That beautiful person with That ugly person!" I don't really like to use "ugly" in my conversations (I still with the word "unattractive"), but you get what I'm saying.

As I got older, I began to see how what is considered beautiful can change, that path from negative to positive; and how beauty can be in the eye of the beholder in two different ways: 1) Society defines what beauty is and 2) Personality states what beauty is.

SOCIETY

Growing up in the 1970s and 80s, I was still in the age where dark skinned people (really dark skinned people) were considered ugly, and the lighter you were, the prettier you were. I was born in the generation after the generation who held a paper grocery bag up near a person's face in order to consider them for a spot in a faternity or sorority. I was consider "prettier" than my sister since I was much lighter and she was "tar color".

What was defined as beautiful then, slowly change.

The model industry began to focus images on really, dark skinned models and were saying they were beautiful. For some, it was hard to adjust, but after a while, they began to see it that way: "Yes, s/he is beautiful!"

When I went to my 20-year High School Reunion, a man that my sister and I grew up with told my sister, "You know, you were always beautiful."

And her response was: "What?! Why didn't you tell me that in Elementary School!"

He simply smiled and walked away.



PERSONALITY

But back to Olive Oyl.

As an adult, I can see the appeal Popeye and Bluto had for Olive Oyl. It was her personality...and maybe her eyelashes too.  Though her singing was horrible, she sung with all her heart. She was strong-willed and she had confidence in herself--and a lot of it! Maybe they also liked how, uh, flexible, she was? Heh. Heh.

In her own way, Olive Oyl was pretty darn cute.

I saw Whoopie Goldberg in Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), and in that film, I could see the romance, a wonderful appealing one, that came from the screen telling a story of love between two people during the early instant messaging stages. But the year before that, she acted in The Color Purple where she was considered "ugly". It was her personality that changed her to be viewed as attractive (and in her personal life, she was also hooked up with my Vampire crush Frank Langella at one time).  And with that personality, you can see, with eyes now changed and open, you know, how cute her smile is with her rosy cheeks.

There's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), Swedish version, where there's this girl played by Noomi Rapace, who isn't very attractive at all. She's almost like an Olive Oyl type--no curves, what-so-ever. But there's just something about her....

Confidence. Smart.

She portrays a female that draws men to want her (I'm talking about the positive ones in her life). And I'm hoping the U.S. can see how beautiful she is in the Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) film. I haven't seen it yet, but I hope she did good.

I think confidence and personality can make anyone attractive.

So, when you take a double-look and wonder, "How did she get HIM!" That's the reason why--confidence.

That question: How can I be attrative?  The answer is One of Two ways. You could either wait the decades for society to change, and some actor or model breaks through that resembles you, and now society says it so, and you have that stamp of approval: BAM! You are now attractive! OR... you can be yourself with confidence and wit and declare to the world that you already are.

I kinda like the latter.

It's what I like to write about. The underdog, the Cinderella, the novice, the overlooked, finally prevailing to be seen by EVERYONE!!

Keep improving through the darkness into the light.

Until Next time!

My Vampire Crush

There's nothing like your first crush...for a vampire.

Yeah. Sigh. I know my first crush well. It was in the movie theatre, you know, the "big screen" back in the early 1980s. His name was Dracula, and it aired several years before I actually saw it because it came out when I was only seven years old, 1979. I must have been around 10 years old when I saw him.

Before HIM, Dracula was just a scary monster like the rest of them. There was nothing appealing at all...he was just scary. But then, he came unto the scene, Frank Langella, filling up the screen and my heart.

That's what started me into the realm of fangs. Heh. Heh.

There were other vampires since Frank Langella, but they just didn't do it for me like he did. I mean, Angel and Buffy.... I liked their romantic relationship, but I just wasn't glued to the fangs, you know? The film Dracula (1992) came out, and though the sizzling in the scenes were there, Gary Oldman just wasn't for me. I must say, though, that there was a biting scene in Blade (1998) that was THE BEST account of "sizzling teeth on neck" that I've EVER seen. The way Blade bit into that doctor's neck...Ooo la la! SMOKIN'!!!!

Yet, Blade wasn't the stuff that I wanted in romance with a Vampire. You know? And the TV series Vampire Diaries (2009 -now)...just not for me.

I had been kind of bummed that I couldn't find that crush feeling again. Frank Langella just had me, and even at age 70, when he was in the film The Box (2009), even with half his face gone and burned up, his poise just makes me salivate, and I remember that Vampire I love.

Over and over, I see these vampires come and go, and still, no spark. I started watching TV Series True Blood, and, again, though I loved the relationship between Sookie and Bill, there just wasn't a vampire there for me.

Until... Season 2 (2009), and a vampire started coming strong into the scene --- Eric Northman!!!!

OH YEAH!!  

The harps started playing in the sky! The earth started rockin' and rollin'! Sparks and fire popped in the air!

There's my FANGS!!! There HE is!!!

And all was well again in the world!

LOL!!

So...the only thing now is to wait for my sizzling werewolf. :)

Until Next time!

Happily Ever After? It Exists? Really? YES!!

Happily Ever After? What's That?

Yeah. A lot of people seem to think that this isn't an option for them.

Well, I believe that it's not really an option for those in a war zone, in completely poverty circumstances (as in going for days without food) and those who are enslaved, as in literally, forced into sex slavery or held somewhere where they can't physically escape.

If you're not in one of these types of exteme circumstances (which I believe you're not because you're reading a blog, which is a luxury in itself to have access to the internet and time to browse)...then you can achieve your Happily Ever After.

Do I believe in Happily Ever Afters? Heck yeah! I've always have, and most people do believe, or continue to wish at least; especially those who love Romance and/or the Rich and Famous, rather that be in films or novels or both. No matter the worse of times in one's life, there can be a Happily Ever After.

And YOU wouldn't be reading this if you didn't have some kind of little, tiny, hope inside you that happiness in life do exist. But where to find that happy ending? How do you find it?

Well, first of all, it takes a lot of DARN WORK! Yes, work. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it does. It's not like in fairy tales where it's just happens "over night" and it's not like films and novels where it's achieved within the hours or days that you finish reading and watching the story. But what it IS LIKE in fairy tales is that it's harsh and cruel in the beginning before ending with light.

And It Takes Years.

You heard me. Yep. Years. Years and years and years and some more years.

Doesn't sound very good, does it? In fact, that statement might just turn you off and stop you from reading anymore on this post; but it's the darn truth.

Years, I say. Y.E.A.R.S!

Am I rubbing that word in? YES! YEARS!!!! YeeeeeEEEEaaaaAAAAArrrrrRRRRRssssSSSS!!!!

Why am I rubbing it in? Because it has to stick in your mind that, that's how much work and step-by-step progress that's needed to achieve the Happily Ever After.

Who am I to give advice? Oh, just the average, common sense person who just simply believes and knows that goals can be reached because I've reached some of my personal goals, and I'm still working at more Ever Afters. Anyone can get their Happily Ever After with realistic steps. And these steps are basically the same, anywhere you go to look to find them.

So...here are the Seven (7) steps to get your happiness along with some specific examples.

1) Open Eyes Can See
Breathe and open your eyes. I say "breathe" because it helps you concentrate. Just one breath and Look at the negatives around you and point out what it is that's preventing you from getting your happiness. Can't finish anything you started? Why? Are men nothing but dogs? Why? Are you too ugly or fat? Why? Are you having an affair? Why? Are you angry all the time? Why? Does life always give you lemons? Why? Are you an outcaste? Why? Do people look down at you? Why? Are you keeping friends around that you really don't like? Why? Are you too desperate? Why? Are you not happy in your marriage. Why?  It's just too complicated? Why? Answer those questions. Find those answers. Research your life.

2) Acknowledge the Negative
Recognize the negatives, the weaknesses, the sorrows.
So, I don't have the money or the time to continue my education. I really enjoy that man/woman that's already married, but I really don't like that I can't spend every day with him/her. I lost someone very dear to me that can not be replaced. I've been cruel or used everyone around me, and I've burned too many bridges. I keep having sex too fast. I keep having to take care of EVERYTHING in the relationship: kids, bills, time--All of the responsibility is always on me. We don't talk, or go out, or have sex, or do anything together anymore. He/She cheats on me. I can never find someone. I always find the wrong person. I'm poor. I'm too dumb. I'm ugly. Everything just always goes WRONG!!! (*) Acknowledge that school just isn't for you, but become intelligent in what you want to do. Research and find the paths--grants, help, loans... do the Do-It-Yourself Project. No body believes you? Show them each step of your goal and show how you've completed them. SHOW them; don't TELL them. Telling is for those who "cry wolf" and you want to be believed. Show the goals that you've completed. (*) Single with multiple kids? You're not alone. You're steps will take longer, for sure. Acknowledge that fact, but KNOW that it will be accomplished with every baby step. (*) Acknowledge these things and accept them for what they are. And what they are, are obstacles that need to get out of the way and pushed aside.

3) Get rid of the negatives
Cleaning up house is one of the first steps to getting closer to happiness, and the hardest.
That affair doesn't give me the love I want 24/7...I always have to wait for it. Don't settle for a piece of cake, got a whole cake WITH the icing. Get Greedy! Let the small part go, and it WILL HURT, but it must be done. It was wrong/It felt right. Doesn't matter. If it's not completely satisfying you, or causes guilt, get rid of it. (*) Take the steps, one at a time by getting organized; making a time table; sleep at a later time, or get up early to complete the task; do your research and gain the knowledge for each step. Knowledge helps gain your strength. (*) Stop the diets and think of life changes--change one thing at a time--add stairs, add stepping while watching a movie, add dancing, replace sugar with honey, replace cookies with a favorite fruit, replace plates with salad plates,. One step at a time. (*) Believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Enhance your character by being positive like a motivational speaker; look at the part of you, you have heard people say is pretty and believe it's true; look at your wardrobe and wear a a shirt with pants or a skirt that you've never worn with it before--heck, mix up all your clothes! Research for a different hair style; smile more. (*) Cut off the "friends" who do not have your best interest at heart; the childhood friends who you only have the "past good times" with and no "now good times"; has this "friend' done anything FOR YOU lately? It will hurt. It will feel lonely. You will feel like a betrayer to this "friend". But it has to get done. (*) Apologize to those you have hurt; Stop apologizing to those you keep apologizing to; and in both cases, SHOW your sincerity by changing your personality and attitude. If it's money you owe a friend, make small donations of $5, $10, until you repay everything. If the person(s) do not want to accept your apology or commitment to make amends, acknowledge it and move on.(*) Are you being completed honest with your signifcant other? The deep, down, dirty truth of what you really want? Tell him/her how you feel. TELL HER! TELL HIM! Talk to them as if they are a complete stranger and have NO IDEA WHO YOU ARE. If there's been too many discussion already and he/she doesn't "want to hear it anymore" because there's been too many "cry wolf" episodes, then it's time to start making arrangements of changing yourself; can I continue to accept this for the rest of my life? Decide if you've Done Everything That You Can Do in the relationship and if it's all one-sided and your partner isn't making an effort; make steps to separate from the negative for a while to think things over. But DO NOT try to get into any other kind of relationship while this one still exist. That's the easy way out. A temporary sense of happiness. The hard part is going through the work of separating yourself from the negative. Don't want to be alone? What makes you SO SURE that you can not find some one else? Get rid of that thought. Believe there is someone for everyone--because there is!! (*) Are you doing EVERYTHING? Delegate work; let someone else do the task and agree, and accept, that the final work won't be perfect. Don't go back and correct it! Provide suggestions and leave it at that if it's not perfect. Ask for help. Say NO. Why not say no? What are the consequences? Will it kill you? Will someone retaliate? Then let that someone, or something go if it's chaining you to continue doing EVERYTHING. Will you loose your job? Start looking for another one before changing and saying No. Don't be afraid of change. Just go through the steps of looking for something else. You don't have to commit to it, just go through the process. Have kids? You need structure and organization more than other. Combine time of kids with your goal, if you can, and accept the lack of sleep to get what you need done if you can't combine time. It won't be forever. Look into Big Brother/Big Sister programs so that you can work on time to better yourself while you child is bettering him/herself with his/her Big. (*) Don't be so readily available. Other people aren't and they get their time to themselves, and you're jealous of that. Don't answer the work cell phone or check the work email or don't YES to the next thing someone wants you to do something for the family or for a friend. If you're always thinking, "Why can't so-and-so do it?" THEN SAY IT OUT LOUD? And make it a point that you are not available. It's going to hurt. They're going to get mad at you. You just might loose a friend. So what! They don't respect your time, which means they are NOT a friend and do not care about you! If something must be done, then it can wait until tomorrow? Is there consequences? YOU'RE HUMAN, NOT A MACHINE! Take care of the issue on ITS time, not on yours. IT'S ME TIME, BABE! ME TIME! (*) Accept the fact that the love one is not coming back and grieve. Grieving is not negative--take the time you need, and ignore those who say "you have to move on" and "it's time to get over it". What's negative is if you're not ready, and you're forced out of grieving when it's not the right time. That only makeS things worse. Separate from those who try to force you. If they love, they will be there when you've completed your grieving. You don't want to jump from one relationship to another because you have not healed completely. Going from one place to another just creates holes inside yourself and builds a bridge of insecurity and lack of self-worth.You won't know what you want. So, stop. And stay still. Wait just exactly where you are and open your eyes to the positives things around you. It will be hard with so many negative things and things that irritate you and anger you, but if you don't know what you want, you have to stay still to see it.

4) Pretend.
Yep. Pretend. Pretend what you want is already here. You heard that before, I'm sure. But what does that actually mean? Well, wanna be rich? Pretend you that you are with the income you already have, and mixing up how you wear your current clothes; that Cup of Noodles is the same as those fancy chinese restaurants, but better because you can add your own stuff to it. You have a TV? You're rich. You have a cell phone? You're rich! You have internet? You're rich! Can you go to the movies? You're rich! Luxuries are things that are more than food, simple clothes, and simple shelter. Luxuries are hair-dos, cars (yes CARS, because you can take the transit system if you don't have a car),movies and other outside entertainment like fast food restaurants--McDonalds. YES McDonalds..because really poor people have to cook cheap food and can't afford McDonalds; which makes your RICH. (*) Pretend you're popular by complimenting someone who is NOT popular of something that really is something worth speaking about. "That's a nice shirt." "Uh...thank you." "Yeah, I really like it." And walk away. Don't dwell. That short conversation will light up your day. Don't go back to that same stranger. Two weeks later, find something you like about someone else and compliment them, who isn't popular. "Nice earrings." "Thank you." "You're welcome." Walk away...unless that person wants to say more about their earrings, then LISTEN and SHOW INTEREST. Simple conversations like that will build up your own group of people, and create your own unique environment of popularity. (*) Pretend that special person will be with you in 1-2 years, right after you completed your personal tasks. They're just around the corner but you need to make sure you've lost this many pounds before you meet him/her. You have to make sure you've gotten over your shyness to speak to people before you meet him/her. You have to make this amount of money before he/she arrives. Pretend that these preparations on yourself is for him/her, just like preparing dinner for guests--they're not here yet, but you'll have everything ready when they are. (*) Pretend you're someone else when you say, "No". Pretend that THEY are your enemy and out to steal your pot of gold, and use up your time so you can't reach your rainbow. (*) Pretend that person in your life: that friend, spouse, lover, who is a negative aspect, is no longer in your life. Start pretending to live a life without that person. (*) Having an affair? Go on dates. And yes, none of the dates will be like him or like her and, yes,  they will only make you think of him/her more, but keep dating every weekend with a new person--the internet allows that. Keep dating, even though it seems like a waste of time and there's no one else who can measure up to him or her. You're pretending there will be someone else even BETTER (*) Pretend that you're a nun if you always jump into bed too early. Don't go to that car or that room--it's past curfew and you must be home for your hourly prayer or fasting. Don't continue to TEST yourself that you will Resist "this time". Accept the weakness and acknowledge you can not resist. You can't put a steak in front of a starving dog and expect it not to eat it?! Avoiding those situations IS your strength, NOT your weakness. (*) If you're a lone, make plans to go out and do something. The internet has lots of activities to meet up with people in your area. Pretend you're going to meet someone at the event and they had car trouble and couldn't make it. (*) Pretend that you're not overweight and you can walk for miles. Pretend that you're an athletic person. (*) Pretend that you're beautiful and smile; hum to yourself. (*) Even though you don't feel like yourself, keep pretending. But don't pretend that you're happy if you're grieving, at least not for a long period of time. Keep the pretense where it's necessary and grieve in private if need be. (*) Pretending is a powerful thing. It's our imaginations that bring things to light.

5) Get Busy
Study and gain knowledge. Do things that will take up time. Doing things will fill you up and make you more complete and ready for the happiness that is coming. (*) Poor? Read books, magazines, blogs, websites. (*) Rich? Volunteer your time. (*) No time? Get better organized. Drop things to make room. (*) No talent? Volunteer or do tempt jobs and learn something you've never known about before. (*) Our bodies were made to MOVE, so get moving! (*) Can't move? Mentally move. Read. Talk. Type. Listen. (*) Get busy working towards that goal. And celebrate even the smallest achievement like putting that $1 dollar away in your bank. That's $1 dollar more than before.

6) Tools
Music is always something to help with the Spirit of Mankind. It envokes strength. Use it. Dance to it. (*) You're reading this? The Internet is a great tool--your best friend. Search and research places, people and things. And get to it!

7) Still not getting anywhere?
The BUT excuses. Acknowledge that they're there. There are things that will stop you. So take tinier steps. A big bill just came up? Okay. Fine. Just make sure to put at least $5 a side for your dream. Just $5 whenever you can. Or stop buying the "wants"...in fact, don't buy anything else but food and diapers if you're in that part of your life. Everything else, find another way. Find Free entertainment for outside events. Ignore the teenager tantrum--they won't remember what they wanted 10 years from now anyway. Teach yourself how to do your next new hair-do, nails style, how to run a business (*) Appreciate what you have and you will get what you want. Look at what you do have. Don't keep up with the Joneses. Exclaim that you don't have "this" right now, but you'll get it in the future...even if it takes 10 years of your life.(*) Setbacks are a time to go back to organization and preparation. Go back to acknowledging the negatives, learning what you need and pretending. Knowledge is the best strength to overcome the feeling of weakness and to overcome strong emotions. Think through the pain, the desires and you'll achieve your goal. How can I get better? What can I do? Where do I need to go? Who can help me? What can help me? How can I do this first step...again? Let me go do this, or that, or the other...just this one step. I can get this done!

Finale
Is there a Happily Ever After? Sure there is. But there is ALWAYS Night Before Day. You just need the thought to believe while in the darkness, surrounded by the negative. And you do believe, because you're here reading this. And if you're reading, and researching, then you're one step closer to your goal. It's the steps, the baby steps, the years of growth, that builds the bridge, that Light to Happiness.