Oops, PassionateAmerica.com has been offline for the past 2 weeks. Register.com took the site down because I forgot to pay my domain registration. I just started a new job and got my first paycheck so the site is back up. More to come….

Democrats want high gas prices. The higher the gas prices the more you will be pissed off. The more you are pissed off the more the Democrats will blame the high gas prices on Bush and the Republican. The dirty little secret Pelosi and her Socialist Democrats will do everything in their power to keep you from figuring out is that they (Democrats) are responsible for the high gas prices.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House, turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi’s refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess. (more)

The Dems turned off the lights, killed the microphones, and tried to kick out reports all in an attempt to keep you and the American public from finding out that they are the cause of high gas prices. The Dems have a energy plan: do nothings and block and delay everything to make the problem worse.

Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the dimly lit chamber is a “vision of the future by the Democrat Party: The lights are out, there’s no power, and the air conditioning is gonna go off soon.”

With the C-SPAN cameras turned off House GOP speakers turned to Twitter to get the word out. Pete Hoekstra is twittering too. It wasn’t long before someone grabbed a video camera and uploaded some video of the event.

The House Republicans went on for 5 hours and the revolt ended at 5pm according to Politico.

This is the GOP we have been waiting for. This is the GOP that can fix Washington. Show your support by contacting your Republican Congressional leaders and supporting their efforts to lower gas prices. If you don’t get hung up on call the Dems and voice your displeasure or contempt for their lies and manipulations.

I’d like to thank ‘Wild’ Bill for letting me guest post on this great blog. It’s an honor, really

Story Time!

My name is Muhammad Siyab, and I’m 16 years old, from Karachi, Pakistan. My blogging habits now are DRASTICALLY different from the ones I had before. What’s the change?

I’ve changed from a ‘win/lose’ stance to a ‘win/win’ stance. I’ve changed from being selfish and self-centered to being generous and reader-centered. How? Read on.

Win/Win Blogging

Before, I used to be a self-centered blogger, doing everything I felt that was good for me as a blogger(to earn me money, that is). It was all about me, the blogger. The readers could go to hell. I had plastered my blog with huge and small ads, many of them, and naturally I expected to make money off them.I wrote irrelevant or quality-less content, and naturally I expected them to be read and appreciated. Naturally, none of that money or appreciation came. I was simply dumbfounded. Why? Why?

Also, I never allowed any blogger to guest post on my blog. Nor did I guest post on any blog. Why should I give away my best posts to anyone else? Alas, I was too drowned in selfishness at that time to realize the bad I was doing to my blog.

There is no “I” in “You”

I then realized, after investigating my failure and some reading, that I had been too selfish. Everything was ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’. My readers(what was left of them) had become sick and tired of my ranting about my self and even the sight of my ads caused them to vomit. It was ‘win’ for me and ‘lose’ for them. What was worse than seeing your blog go down?

Then I decided to change my self. I slowly graduated from an ‘I’ blogger to a ‘You’ blogger. From ‘win/lose’, to ‘win/win’ or even ‘lose/win’ sometimes.

I hugely improved the design of my blog, making it a lot more cleaner. The amount of ads plummeted. The quality of my content went up and up (I worked hard). I stopped bragging about myself and made it all about the readers. I often sent them e-mails, thanking them for commenting on my blog and asking them to review and report any problems with my design. I made my readers feel important and acknowledged. Instead of just letting them comment and go, I appreciated them for commenting and made them happy that they had not been forgotten. They became, from first time visitors, loyal readers. The fact that they appreciated the fact that I had thanked them, made me happy. This was real happiness.

How many bloggers do this? Do you?

Finding the real happiness in blogging

I also helped readers solve their problems. One of the greatest sources of real happiness for me was that readers came back to thank me after I had helped them solve problems. I was the happiest man on Earth! Really, wouldn’t that give you such an elevated feeling of happiness?

Was I achieving even a minute percentage of this much appreciation when it was all about ‘I’? I don’t think so.

Sure I had to now spend more time researching for my posts and to explain them in detail. But ‘reader satisfaction’ is on one side of the balance and small talk like ‘money’ is on the other. No prizes for guessing which side wins.

Money and other materialistic things come second to readers. You’ve got to build long lasting and effective relationships with them. Business and $$$ are secondary, and less important. Why do good companies put so much money and time in effective customer support services? Because they know a happy customer is a returning customer.

How you win by letting your readers win

You may ask, where’s the first part of the ‘win/win’ here? I’m making my readers happy, but how do I too win? Remember, it would be imprudent to talk about winning in terms of money, traffic. It’s about the readers. Make them happy, and they will return for your services. They will trust you to deliver successfully. They will spread you by word-of-mouth marketing. They will become advocates for you. The money and fame will come itself. That’s the power of satisfied and fiercely loyal readers.

It even pays to go ‘lose/win’ sometimes, just for the satisfaction of your readers. Don’t display ads on a particular, popular post. This will show them that you’re not here for the money. You’re here for them, the reader. Sure, you’ll not make a coupla more bucks, but then, the price of the reader smiling in appreciation is far, far, far more than what you’d make.

So, think about it. For me, the happiness that I get by making some money is far far less than the happiness and pride I feel when a reader comments or emails me, thanking me for such a great post. For me, it’s too words:

Mission Accomplished

I blog at PuttingBlogsFirst (Laser targeted tips for kick ass blogging), and would love to have you as a reader and to solve your problems :D. I even have a helpful starter’s guide for people new to the blogging scene. Thanks again, Bill for letting me post here!

Is your social schedule fairly blank?

If you don’t get out much or your phone list is filled to the brim with fun an interesting people, we all have one thing in common. We could all use more friends. Do you wish you had more friends but you just don’t know how to get started becoming the life of the party? Making friends can really brighten up your life and I have some tips that can help you fill your friends list.

Looking for a new best friend

I had a best friend, he used to hang out with me all the time. We would stay up all night laughing, talking, and enjoying each others company. Unfortunately he changed to the point where being friends was a chore. I ended the friendship hoping that he might get his life together and that maybe one day we could be best friends again.

I was officially best friendless. I had spent a lot of time making online friends, but being a stay-at-home dad that usually doesn’t go further than the local Wal-Mart or the apartment swimming pool, I had next to no close offline friends. If you are going to make offline friends here are some of the things I did to repopulate my offline friends list.

Making friends offline

10 passionate ways to Make friends offline

1. Get out of the house - Meeting people face to face requires getting off the couch. There was no way I was going to find a new friend as long as my backside was stuck to my favorite Lazy-Boy (I understand why its called a Lazy-Boy now.) I had to get up and shave so I didn’t look like a caveman (sorry Geico, but looking like the missing link is not gonna score you first impression points.)

Make the resolution to get out of the house more. You don’t have to wait until New Years, get it done. Now that you are out of the house what’s next?

2. Smile - A smile is infectious, not in the same way herpes is, but still a big smile on your face is always better than daggers in your eyes. Friend material will say to themselves, wow who is that person with that big grin on their face, I need to find out who they are.

3. Positive attitude - Being a Debbie Downer won’t get you many friends. Think about positive things that put a smile on your face and try to be as upbeat and positive as possible when approaching your next best friend.

Everyone could use more positive people with playful personalities in their lives, those are the people that get called first when their is a party.

4. Say hello - Don’t be scared go up and say hello. What’s the worst that could happen, they might say hello back? Your new friend will be impressed that you are sure enough about yourself that you can talk to a perfect stranger. You know why they call them perfect strangers? Because that strange might just be the perfect friend.

5. Make eye contact - Guys this one is for you. Your eyes should be focused on your new friends EYES, not her headlights. Breasts don’t talk back, but the person you are trying to meet will talk back if you smile, have a passionate positive attitude, and you are looking her in the eyes instead of ogling her rack.

6. Listen to them - Yes you actually have to listen to what friends are saying. You might find out that they are really interesting and a lot like you. Try this; ask your new acquaintance a question then shut your mouth and listen intently to what they are saying before opening your mouth. Let them finish their statement. People like and feel a closer bond to people that really listen to them and try to empathize with what they are saying.

7. Help someone - If you see someone about to walk to the door you are entering stop and hold the door open for them. If you are driving and you see someone that has a flat tire stop and help them. Offer to help carry something if you see someone that might need help. Helping people can be one of the best ways to meet new friends.

extra tip - Ask for help. Sometimes people just need to be asked and you’ll find they are some of the nicest most helpful people you have meet. These people make great offline friends.

8. Be available - When your friends call make sure to answer the phone. If you are busy then call them back as soon as you can. When you make yourself available for friendship, friendship makes itself available to you.

Make time for friends. The best relationships are between people that spend regular time with each other.

9. Schedule a date - If the only thing that is on your schedule is “Make a schedule” chances are you’ll be doing that alone if you ever get around to doing it. If you are planning to cook some burgers on the grill and drink some beers this weekend go knock on a neighbors door and invite them to the party. If you are not planning a cookout, put it on your new schedule.

I’m planning a big grill party this weekend, if you live in the Oklahoma City Area you should come over, have a steak, a bowl of chili, a beer, and meet someone that might just be your new best friend.

Note - I cook a mean steak and I’m an award wining chili champion.

10. Don’t be shy - This is America. We are some of the friendliest most generous people on the earth. For some reason many people have forgotten that these are the same people that wept along with us during national tragedies. I love my fellow Americans and I’d love to hear their story and share an in depth conversation with them. That conversation and friendship will never have a chance if we are both to shy or scared to say hello.

Say hello to someone today. You never know they might be trying to make new friends also.

Now that you know how to meet friends offline you can also learn how to meet friends online at Passionate Blogger.

In how to be happy part 1 we talked about the feelings that are holding us back from happiness. Today I want to focus on the things that really make you happy.

Dreams of your inner child

Do you remember when you were a child and you were happy? You had all these dreams and goals and nothing could stop you. When asked what you wanted to be you answered’

• a veterinarian
• an astronaut
• the president of the United States
• insert your dream career here

What happened to that child? Nothing could hold you back. Nothing stood in your way. You knew what made you happy and you did those things.

Some people might say we grew up. “The world isn’t all sunshine and lollipops.” Remember the first grumpy sad person that told you that? Their world wasn’t filled with sunshine and lollipops but instead of changing their own reality and following their dreams they decided to try and crush yours. If you are not happy, somewhere along your road in life you setup a roadblock to your happiness. Well no more roadblocks. Happiness is on the other side of those roadblocks so do everything possible (or what some people consider impossible) to overcome the obstacles in your path.

Important secrets of happy people

Do you know happy people that seem so happy that it is almost infectious? Well they have a few secrets for being happy that can help you. For these secrets to work, you must understand this,

You are not just here to fill space or be a background character in someone else’s movie. Consider this: nothing would be the same if you did not exist. Every place you have ever been and everyone you have ever spoken to would be different without you. We are all connected, and we are all affected by the decisions and even the existence of those around us. (link)

Happy people don’t spend all their time watching reality shows, they create their own reality. Ready for the important secret of happy people? Ok, here it is.

Happy people set goals and spend their time achieving those goals.

There other secrets of happy people but I believe this is the most important one.

Setting smart goals for happiness

What is it that really makes you happy? What puts the biggest smile on your face? When I asked myself this question my mind was filled to the brim with what I enjoy doing. I made a list so I could discover what my goals should be, what was standing in the way of those goals, and to give myself direction for achieving my happiness goals.

What makes me happy

• Being debt free and having emergency savings
• Hanging out with good friends and family
• Traveling, visiting new places, seeing new things, and meeting new people
• Doing my talk radio show
• Blogging because I want to instead of feeling like I have to
• Cooking and eating great healthy food

I took each item on the list to discover what was keeping me from achieving the things that make me happy.

Being debt free and having emergency savings

problem - 5 years ago I was laid off from one of my most favorite jobs. I had $15,000 in debt and without any income I had no way of keeping up with the payments let alone paying off the debt. Losing this job devastated me. I had no backup plan, no other job opportunities, and starting over at the bottom and working my way back to the salary I was making before I was laid off would take time that I didn’t have with all the bills piling up.

I got so mad when I was laid off that I pulled a Jerry Maguire and “FLIPPED OUT” and burnt any bridge that was still standing that would allow me to be rehired by the company that laid me off. Instead of realizing at the time that my personal financial situation (debt and having no savings) was the reason for my fear of being temporarily unemployed I took my frustrations out on the guy that laid me off, the HR girl, and the CEO of the company.

I fell into a deep depression and decided to go back to school so I could get a worthless degree that would allow me to apply for jobs that I could do but could not get hired doing because they only wanted to hire someone with a college degree. [another post for another day]

Fast forward to today. I make money from my websites and doing odd jobs now and then, but I do not make enough money to pay my bills. To be financially free and debt free I need to make some adjustments.

solution - Increase my income. I need a job where I make a steady paycheck. I make money doing what I love, blogging, but I don’t make enough yet to pay off $15,000 in debt and save up an emergency fund. Need to update my resume and start job hunting.

a note to the readers - If you know of a job that needs a highly motivated individual send me an email at my contact form.

Hanging out with good friends and family

problem - Several months ago what was my best friend of 15 years became someone I could no longer be around. He started lying to me and my family and he had become manipulative to the point of making statements like “if you don’t do X then your not my friend.” That was the last straw and I ended the friendship. He is still not in the position to have a best friend type relationship, he has personal issues that he needs to workout (counseling would be a great idea) before we can ever begin to rebuild our relationship.

I have several great friends through blogging, but none of them live close enough to me to hang out with in a face to face environment. Also my lack of money prevents me from being albe to even put gas in the car or going anywhere that costs money (movies, playing pool, etc…) I need a new best friend.

solution - I need to get out of the house and meet people. I need a job so that I can have some money for entertainment and I can buy my own tickets, drinks, and food if I am out with a friend.

I recently got an email from an old best friend that moved out of state that has recently moved back to the Oklahoma City area. I need to try and rebuild this friendship.

a note to the readers - If you need a friend, would like to hang out with a really interesting guy (that’s me Wild Bill) and live in the Oklahoma City metro area, send me an email using my contact form and we will get together and have some fun.

Traveling, visiting new places, seeing new things, and meeting new people

problem - The job I got laid off from involved a lot of traveling and I love traveling. I have next to no money to travel. I need a more income so I can set some money aside so I can travel. Also The cars we own can get us to places we need to go that are close to home but we need a more reliable car if I am going to be able to travel more.

solution - Need more income. Need a newer car in good working condition.

a note to the readers - If you need a job for a travel writer/blogger drop me a line and we might be able to hekp each other out.

Doing my talk radio show

problem - I used to do a talk radio show 3 times a week. The station was having financial problems so they shut down (hopefully temporarily) until they can raise more capital.

solution - I can podcast my own show. I’ll have to find a new way to take callers (I enjoy talking to callers). I can also findout more about what I need to do to start a career in terrestrial radio. I might need to go back to school or get more training to get a traditional radio job.

a note to the readers - If you need a job for a travel writer/blogger drop me a line and we might be able to hekp each other out.

Blogging because I want to instead of feeling like I have to

problem - I love blogging, however sometimes it feels more like a chore than a passion. I let my other problems get to me and by doing that I stopped doing the things I love to do like blogging.

solution - I need to start blogging again. Pick topics that are more enjoyable to write about (politics is so depressing right now avoid this topic at all cost.) I am in the process of doing complete blog makeovers on all my blogs.

PassionateAmerica.com needs a new focus. Passionate America was my first blog and I used to write about anything and everything that I was interested in at the time. Passionate America needs to focus on Passionate Positive News and Stories with Personality to increase your Happiness and I need to move some of the posts that do not deal with that focus to other blogs or delete those posts.

PassionateBlogger.com needs to focus on Helping Passionate Bloggers Make A Living Online with tips and advice to help new bloggers.

My newest blog (this one is a secret for now I’ll tell you about it later) needs more content and then needs to build traffic and a community of readers.

Cooking and eating great healthy food

problem - My family likes junk food and unhealthy fatty starchy foods. I love healthy foods so when I cook I try and split the difference and end up with food that makes me fat and food that my family doesn’t really like. I gave up eating the foods I enjoy for a while due to money, depression, and family pressure. I sat around eating bags of chips, bowls of cereal, and way to many soft drinks. I gained 30 lbs of fat, lost most of my muscle, and was to the point where it was either buy new clothes or go on a serious diet.

solution - Stop drinking soda. Let the family cook for themselves and I cook my own meals. I spent way to much time trying to get them to eat better food, if they don’t want to eat what I am cooking and eating then they can make their own food. Start working out again and building lean muscle mass.

a note to the readers - I started eating healthy and working out again about 2 months ago. So far I have went from 238lbs to 210lbs, lost a lot of body fat, gained about 15lbs of muscle, and now I fit in all of my cloths once again. Another 6 moths of working out and eating right and I might be able to get a job as an underwear model. Six pack here I come.

Make your own list of what makes you happy

My list above is what makes me happy you can use it as an example to make your own list of what makes you happy.

When you have your list make the changes in your life that will help you achieve your happiness goals. In How to be happy - Part 3 I explore celebrating goal achievements and staying on track.

For more about happiness check out these related posts.

How to be happy - Part 1

Make Time For Happiness - Series:

• Part 1 - Adding Happiness To Your To-Do List
• Part 2 - Taking Your Happiness To The Next Level - Decrease Interruptions
• Part 3 - Don’t Be Stingy! - Give Some Happiness To Increase Your Happiness
• Part 4 - How To Start Pursuing Your Happiness Today

Commenting on blogs and websites can showcase your personality on the internet. The problem is there are so many personalities sometimes your comment gets lost in the crowd. If you want your comments to be a shark in a sea of chum adding a Gravatar can increase your comments visibility.

What the hell is a Gravatar you might be saying. Lets go straight to the sharks mouth, the Gravatar website.

What is a gravatar?

A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums…

and now blogs like Passionate America that are running the newest version of WordPress.

With the new release of WordPress version 2.6, WordPress blog owners now have the option to display their users personalized Gravatar’s in the comments on their blogs. Here’s what it looks like in the comment section of Passionate America.

Get you free personalized Gravatar to give your comments pizazz

Nothing could be simpler, go to Gravatar.com signup page, enter your email, and they’ll send you an activation email (just to make sure its you.)

Click on the link in the activation email, it will take you back to the Gravatar website where you will need to enter a nickname and a password. Next you will be taken to a screen where you can upload an image that shows your personality.

Upload your favorite picture, crop your image (you can stretch and move the the selection box), click crop and finish, and you are ready to comment in style.

Now whenever you leave a comment on a blog, forum, or website that has Gravatars enabled your Gravatar will appear in your comment. Now you’re showing your personality.

Now that you have a Gravatar leave a comment below and show us your personality.

P.S. If you have a WordPress blog and you have updated to the newest version of WordPress simply go to WP-Admin > Settings > Discussion scroll to the bottom and on Avatar Display select Show Avatars. Set your Maximum Rating and Default Avatar. Now your comments section should be showing Gravatars.

In one of the most asinine statements to spill out of Nancy Nanny Pelosi’s face hole, Nanny P said in an interview,

“The president of the United States, with gas at $4 a gallon because of his failed energy policies, is now trying to say that is because I couldn’t drill offshore.”… “That is not the cause, and I am not going to let him get away with it.(link)”

$4 a gallon gas has nothing to do with Bush’s energy policies you shrill harpy, and everything to do with liars like Nanny P. What do you mean, “I am not going to let him get away with it”? He should be saying I’m not gonna let the DEMwits get away with their lies anymore.

It was you Nanny P that, “repeatedly resisted oil drilling in marine sanctuaries off the state’s coast near her San Francisco district and, after joining the Appropriations Committee, was an advocate of reinstating the coastal drilling ban through spending restrictions each year. (link)”

What the hell are marine sanctuaries. I’m sure Pissholosi thinks a marine sanctuary is anywhere that an American oil company would like to drill for oil to increase supply to lower gas prices. Nanny Pissholosi is one of the major reasons for the coastal drilling ban.

I say we start drilling everywhere to lower the price of gas and then impose a tax on all states that have elected representatives and senators that oppose drilling in marine sanctuaries. Any state that allows drilling the residents should pay $2 less a gallon while the idiots that oppose drilling should pay $4 more a gallon.

Frankly I’m tired of the lying about the real cause of high gas prices. Some DEMwits want Bush to release oil from the national reserves to lower prices. Let me get this straight, increasing supply by using the national reserves will lower prices but drilling for more oil and increasing national output will not solve the problem? Do you see a contradiction in DEMwit thinking? If you ever want to do the right thing for America chances are just do the exact opposite of what a DemocRAT is suggesting.

Mama always said, “If’n you ain’t got anyting good to say don’t say nuttin at all!” So lately I haven’t said much. During my silence I did some soul searching to find out why I seemed to be in a slump. The process I went through to discover the reasons for my slight depression might be able to help other people who are going through a crisis in their lives. If you are lacking motivation, feeling a little down, or don’t feel happiness as you once did then I have a fix for the rut you find yourself in.

Getting real with how you feel

What are your feelings about your life? I asked myself this very same question and for me the best way to get anything done is to make a list. So I made a list and decided that I would write down the emotions and feeling that I experienced when I thought about the present course of my life. Think about how your life would be if you were to repeat the last few months or years for the rest of your life. For me I felt like my life was headed in the wrong direction and a flood of emotions spilled out on the paper.

How I feel when I think about the present course of my life.

Here was my list:

• Miserable
• Sad
• Scared
• Worried
• Disappointed
• Nervous
• Bored
• Stressed
• Depressed
• Frustrated
• Irritated
• Aggravated
• Mad
• Angry
• Pissed Off

Writing your list and being completely honest about how you feel takes courage. It took me a while to finish this list. After I wrote a word I found myself stuck in that emotion so I explored each one individually to discover exactly why I felt that way.

Miserable - My life has become down right miserable bordering on unbearable. I am not happy. Getting up in the mourning is almost a chore I do not look forward to.

Sad - I Almost want to cry when I think about all the hurt I have inside. So I try to block those feelings and end up feeling sad.

Scared - I always used to know what to do, but recently I’m afraid that what I need to do will be emotionally difficult so I continue doing nothing hoping someone or something will remove the fear that is blocking my way.

Worried - I’m most worried about money and not fixing the problems in my life. I worried about what will happen when I make the changes I need to make.

Disappointed - I’m disappointed in myself. I’ve had really hard times in my life and overcome them. Why is this time different? Why can’t I do what needs to be done?

Nervous - Mainly I’m nervous about writing this list. I have been keeping these feeling inside for months and I know some of the people in my life will react badly to the changes I need to make.

Bored - I used to avoid people that said they were bored and as a result I feel like I am avoiding myself. Problem is its next to impossible to avoid yourself. I always thought of being bored as a personal problem and I was right. Boredom is one of my problems and I have to be the person to fix it.

Stressed - Most of my stress comes from worrying about a future financial hardship and having no savings. I smoke to release stress and for me it works (I know smoking is bad). I will quit smoking later down the road. I know how I get when I run out of cigarettes and it is not pretty. My marriage is another huge cause of stress in my life.

Depressed - I have been depressed to the point of contemplating suicide before in my life. So I know how dangerous depression can be. I know when I am depressed and deep down I know the solution for my depression. I don’t solve my depression because I have been afraid of how some people in my life will react negatively to the changes I need to make. For me a pill has never helped or cured my depression. Depression is a mechanism of my life that tells me I need to make a change and the time is now.

Frustrated - I’m frustrated with myself because I know what to do, but each day I think about making the change and end up putting it off for another day.

Irritated - Every little thing that goes wrong can set me off. I cope with this by smoking, reading, and playing solitaire. If I take my mind off of the things that irritate me I can avoid that feeling for a while. Short term this works, long term I am delaying the solution.

Aggravated - I am aggravated with myself. What the hell am I doing sitting here on the couch all the time when I should be doing the things that make life fulfilling for me? I used to travel, meet new people, and love my life. Why the hell did I let my life get to where it is know where I cannot do the things that make me happy?

Mad - I’ve tried not being mad but all that ends up happening is more sitting on the couch and smoking cigarettes. I should be mad, I’ve screwed up. If I had stood my ground and always done what I know was right I wouldn’t be in this position. I let feminist culture convince me that there is something wrong with a man if he is mad. When you are mad it means something is wrong with your situation not something wrong with being mad. You usually have to be mad before you are ready to make a major change in your life.

Angry - You’re damn right I’m angry. I let less qualified people make decisions about my life. I am the only person that understands enough about myself to make those decisions. My anger is valid, however I should use it as motivation to better myself and never let it sink to the level of perpetual hatred.

Pissed Off - No more sitting on the couch being unproductive. No more letting lack of money stop me from being financial free. No more squeezing into clothes that are too tight because I sat around and got fat shoveling large amounts of unhealthy food into my throat hole. No more saying the same thing over and over to the people in my life while they ignore my needs. My name is William Kerr and I am not lazy, a bum, or a person to be disregarded and disrespected. NO MORE!!!

Writing this list helped me get my motivation back for solving my problems. The process should help you too if you are suffering from negative feelings and emotions.

Now that we have a better grasp on the negative feelings that are holding us back we need to discover what it is that makes us happy. In How to be happy - Part 2 I’ll show you how to discover your path toward happiness.

That’s the only question I have for New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

In the last few years things have been less than stellar for me. Now I’m not half as good as this whole “positive thinking” racket as Bill but I’m trying to follow his lead here. I know that Thanksgiving was in November but regularly reminding yourself of that which you have to be thankful for certainly doesn’t hurt.

1. I live in the greatest, most free nation on Earth.
2. Though it’s a struggle sometimes I provide for all my own needs.
3. I don’t go to sleep hungry at night.
4. I’ve got a full range of motion control. Think about it, allot of people don’t. If you don’t have to get into a wheelchair to get around then you’ve got something to be thankful for.
5. I have all my senses still. Again, allot of people don’t.
6. I don’t have any non-curable disease.
7. I’ve got job I don’t hate.

These are just a few things but it gives you an idea of what to consider when making a list of your own.  We become obsessed with the things that are wrong in our lives and never stop to think that all things considered our lives really aren’t that bad.  You don’t live in Darfur.  You don’t have one of the new super strains of STD going around.  You don’t have Multiple Sclerosis.  No matter what difficulty you’re currently experiencing things could be worse so try being thankful for what you’ve got.  It really will brighten your day.