Every Independence Day we celebrate our freedom as a nation. This year, SUCCESS Magazine encourages you to seek freedom in your own life. Here are five tips for living a life of celebrated independence:

1. Emotional Freedom. Face it: You need to unplug for the weekend. Set your auto-responder indicating you’re away and shun all handheld devices. If you can’t unplug entirely, silence alerts and ringers, or schedule a brief moment to check e-mail. Keep in mind, you can’t really “check out” if you’re still tied to the office.

2. Financial Freedom. True financial freedom only comes when you can live off the interest from your assets. Perhaps Independence Day is the perfect time to start thinking critically about how you’ll achieve this goal. Pressed for time? Seek out SUCCESS’ recommended CDs and DVDs to help you gain the knowledge you need to retire rich and live a life of affluence.

3. Freedom of Time. Nobody likes being a slave to the office, but few people do anything about it. Reassess your life goals and decide if it’s time to be your own boss, or professionally capitalize on something you have a personal passion for.

4. Freedom of Well-Being. Physical activity promotes psychological well-being, reduces stress and even reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. The 4th of July is synonymous with outdoor activity so get outside and revel in the moment. Make the commitment to your health and go easy on the grilled hotdogs.

5. Freedom of Spirit. Life is complex, and all the quantitative lists in the world won’t make a difference if you’re not ready to make the commitment to yourself. Remember, the most important thing you can work on is yourself. When you take the time you need to enrich your own personal development, success will follow.

Copyright 2008 - Success Magazine. From Seeds of SUCCESS eZINE.

Write a Top 10 list of the things that keep you from having the romantic relationship you envision. Next, create a plan (together) to begin resolving or elimination these obstacles.

Copyright © 2008 - Larry James. This idea is adapted from Larry’s books, “How to Really Love the One You’re With: Affirmative Guidelines for a Healthy Love Relationship,” “LoveNotes for Lovers: Words That Make Music for Two Hearts Dancing” and “Red Hot LoveNotes for Lovers.” Author Larry James presents seminars nationally for singles and couples. Subscribe to Larry’s FREE monthly “LoveNotes for Lovers” eZINE. Contact: CelebrateLove.com, P.O. Box 12695, Scottsdale, AZ 85267-2695. - CelebrateLove.com

NOTE: All articles listed in this BLOG are available for reprint in magazines, periodicals, newsletters, newspapers, eZINEs, on the Internet or on your own Website. Click here for details.

Don’t just do something, sit there!

Reading or merely looking out the window in contemplation could be the most important and productive activity you do today. Too often, people throw their time at tasks when they should be exerting more brain power.

The single best way to handle several different projects is to begin working on one thing at a time, until its completion, and then go on to the next project, and then the next, until you are finished.

Written by my friend, Jeff Davidson

“You’ll start having more of what you love when you start loving what you have.” - James Arthur Ray

. . . This includes your relationship!! - Larry James

“There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Easing the stress you feel begins with S-E-L-F!

S is for Serenity! A simple technique called “relaxation response” is one of the best and easiest ways to achieve a greater degree of stress-reducing serenity.

What to do? - Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Close your eyes. Choose a calming word or short phrase, such as “letting go: or “all is well.” As you slowly exhale, repeat the word or phrase over and over. Or. . . sing, pray, pet a cat, make yourself laugh.

E is for Exercise! Exercise doesn’t have to be a sweaty workout at the gym. Stress-relieving exercise is any motion - walking your dog, going dancing, getting the tension out of your muscles with a yoga stretch.

What to do? - Exercise for at least 20 minutes five times a week.

L is for Love! A heartfelt connection to family and friends reduces stress.

What to do? - Just as you schedule any appointment, block out time in your calendar to spend time relaxing with family and friends. Even little gestures, such as sending e-mail to a friend asking how he/she is, can reduce stress.

F is for Food! Wholesome food is medicine for stress. Healthy food helps improve your mood, sleep and health.

What to do? - At least once a week, eat fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids (such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and herring, etc.), which nourish brain cells and have been shown to ease stress and reduce hostility and depression.

Avoid foods and beverages that aggravate stress, including coffee and tea with caffeine. . . foods high in sugar. . . and alcohol, which may seem to de-stress you, but when the effects wear off, you tend to feel even more anxious.

Copyright © 2008 - Bottom Line Personal. www.BottomLineSecrets.com.

When we honestly ask which persons in out lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief or bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness. . . makes it clear that whatever happens in the external world, being present to each other is what really matters.

Copyright © 2008 - Henri F. M. Nouwen.

The following was written by Harold W. Becker, President and Founder of The Love Foundation, Inc.

Have you ever noticed that when you are fully present in your life, everything flows and the possibilities are endless? Thoughts of the past naturally conjure positive feelings and the future seems bright and filled with potential. These are the moments we flow with grace and ease and experience life as a beautiful expression. We notice the subtle perfection all around us and our hearts expand with a distinct knowing that all is well.

Then there are the moments when we pick up on a suggestion, whether from someone or something on our path or think about a past memory that stimulates a sense of hurt these are the unresolved emotions in our consciousness that have crystallized in form. In a split second, we transport ourselves out of the present moment, via our thoughts and feelings, to a point where we start reliving this painful stuck emotional energy. It then begins to color our present and future experience with all of the unresolved emotions like anger, guilt, shame, worry, greed or fear.

What is the difference between these two realities? When we are aware of our thoughts and feelings and trust the process of life, we remain in an unconditional and timeless state of consciousness and act according to our heartfelt wisdom. Everything is interconnected and we empower our imagination with potential while we seek to fulfill our hopes and dreams. Obstacles and mistakes are recognized as serving to refine our goals rather than block our path and we allow them to be a part of the journey. Love is our guiding emotion.

To the contrary, when we react to a situation identifying with our fears and doubts, we give away our creative responsibility and attach ourselves to a moment in time and space. This incomplete perspective or emotional response is eventually accepted as truth simply because we did not know how to let go. From childhood on, these energetic limitations repeat themselves throughout our lives until we decide one day to release our attachment to them.

We can choose to detach from these distressing limited memories through forgiveness, both for ourselves and all the characters and circumstances that we once perceived to have caused us to feel hurt, harmed, violated or victimized. This is our key to personal freedom and our ability to flow with life once again. When we heal and release ourselves from our own limitations, we also heal and free the world around us.

Unconditional love is indeed timeless since it is impossible to ever attach ourselves to anything when we remain present and loving in our perspective.

Copyright © 2008 - Harold W. Becker. To learn more about Global Love Day, visit http://www.celebratelove.com/globalloveday.htm and http://www.thelovefoundation.com/Global_Love_Day.htm.

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