“Not forgiving is like drinking cat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” – Anne Lamott

How well do you forgive others?

I have really started to think about how poorly I am at forgiving others. I hold on to a grudge for years. I still hold it against my college friends who always picked me last for intramural basketball. One of these days, this 5’8″ white boy with the coordination of a drunk man on stilts will school each of one of them in a lethal game of 1 on 1.

On a serious note, God truly calls us to forgive others. How can we expect forgiveness to be lavished upon us if we don’t share the same sentiments on forgiving others?

Bible Verses on Forgiving Others

1. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. 2 Corinthians – 2:7
2. When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, - 2 Corinthians 2:10
3.  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. – Ephesians 4:32
4. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. – Colossians 3:13
5. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. -John 20:23
6. Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. – Luke 6:37
7. and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. – Matthew 6:12
8. If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  – Matthew 6:14
9. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. – Matthew 6:15
10. Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone^[a]who sins against me? Seven times?”  “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!Matthew 18:21-22
11. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you? – Matthew 18:32-33
12. That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart – Matthew 18:35
13. so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven. – Mark 4:12
14. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. – Mark 11:25
15. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” - Luke 7:47
16. and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation. – Luke 11:4
17. So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. – Luke 17:3
18. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive. – Luke 17:4
19. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. – John 20:23
20. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. – Romans 4:7 

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Click here to skip to Mixbook Free Shipping Coupon Code and other Mixbook Coupons

I am not a scrapbooker. I do not enjoy gluing pictures to pages with silly little designs on them. You give me pictures and a book, and I will throw away the book while putting the pictures in my back pocket. Craft glue is my arch nemesis and I would rather listen to a drunk man singing Aerosmith’s “I Dont Want to Miss a Thing” in Karaoke form than put together a picture book.

But a picture book that was given to me is one of my most prized possessions.

My mom put together a picture book of my life after I graduated high school. It contains many countless precious memories that I would have forgotten without the book. I opened it the other day and traveled back into those days of nostalgic memories and beautiful experiences. The smiles brought back joys of idealistic love and ignorant bliss.

Life was perfect and the pictures are evidences that stand the test of time.

Days will fade and time will pass, but this memory book will forever be bound in my secure grasps.

Like I said previously, I hate the idea of putting together a scrap book. But I am interested in creating a way to keep pictures of my sons, friends and vacations organized in an easy to view manner. I do have hundreds of such pictures on my computer and plan on backing them up into an external hard drive, but I do want to keep the physical pictures. They are easier to show and feel much more real. Therefore, a memory book of some kind would be ideal.

But I did not want to do it.

Until.

Mixbook Coupon Codes Emailed to Me

The other day, I received coupon codes for MixBook through Groupon. I had no idea what they were selling so I clicked through to learn more about them. I quickly found out that they are an online picture book website. You go through their website and create a memory book which will be shipped to you.

I closed that browser window quick.

I was not going to allow myself to be pulled into the demonic cult of scrapbooking.

Several hours later, I reopened that dreadful Groupon email that contained Mixbook Photo Book Coupon Codes. It was 2:30 in the morning and I had nothing better to do so I browsed through their website. I took it for a test drive and 3 hours later I made a visual encyclopedia masterpiece of my life. If anyone besides myself was interested in me then they would have cried at my creation.

Then my son woke up and I realized I stayed up all night playing with a scrapbooking website.

Mixbook Photo Book Online Creator

The people behind Mixbook created the website with several thoughts in mind. They were passionate about memory books and watching people relive their most cherished moments. They knew that the technology is possible today to make a premium and high-quality photo book of memories easy and fun. They tried to use all of the other online photo book creator software but it was badly made and completely frustrating. You would spend hours trying to design books based on other people’s templates and feel completely lost throughout the process. You buy the book and several weeks later, you get a collection of garbage mixed with photos of you.

Mixbook knew that we deserve more. These are our most cherished memories.

Easy to Create and Fun Website

photo originally via sugarthegoldenretriever.com

Mixbook flipped the photo book industry on its head by focusing on us, the customers. They sought out to provide the most user-friendly and powerful online service available. They spent months and years perfecting  the cutting-edge technology so that you will actually enjoy piecing together your valuable memories because that’s the way it should be. Their online service uses the Adobe Flex programming language. This highly complex and powerful language provides the quickest and most interactive ability that is on the market.

It is as if you are sitting inside Michael’s creating the photo book book in aisle 3, but only better. You do not have to worry about getting glue on your hands.

Benefits of Mixbook’s Online Photo Book Creator

• Complete Freedom of Design – Do you hate designing? You can choose from their huge collection of professional designs OR you can completely design it yourself. You can move, crop, rotate, pan and zoom on photos; add stickers and backgrounds; and create custom layouts. The possibilities are endless with Mixbook’s powerful and easy editor.
• Collaborate with Friends and Family – Invite friends and family to join you in creating your special project. Everyone can upload their photos to the same project, and then personalize and decorate their pages together.
• Use Photos from Facebook – Mixbook is integrated with many popular photo sharing sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, and others, and you can quickly upload your photos from these sites with one click.
• Thousands of Free Creative Elements – Access and use thousands of creative elements (templates, backgrounds, stickers, etc.) completely free of charge!
• Professional Quality – With archival-quality, FSC-certified papers, hand-stitched hardcovers, and incredibly detailed print reproduction, you will enjoy your Mixbook products for years to come.

High Quality Professional Photo Books

Mixbook prides itself on its high-quality tangible books. Whether you choose a softcover or hardcover mixbook, it will be made with archival-quality 100 lb silk paper. Mixbook will then wrap your photo book in protective photo wrap covers. They offer an amazing 100% satisfaction guarantee and provide excellent customer service if your product is anything less than ideal. Here is a testimonial that I found on their website.

“The quality and professional look of my Mixbook was 200% better than expected. These photos do not serve justice to the finished product. I will be placing more orders with Mixbook for sure! ”
- Angela Bunyi, Murfreesboro, TN

Types of Mixbook Photo Books Available

The possibilities are endless while using Mixbook to create a photobook because of its detailed user-interface. You can create a Mixbook for any occasion or any memory. The only limitations and hindrances from creating a Mixbook is not experiencing life. It is your job to live life completely and it is Mixbook’s job to allow you to encapsulate the memories for the future. Both men and women have used the service for many everyday events from a child’s soccer league experience to Paris vacations and even intimate moments of the arrival of a newborn baby to the family. Here are a few of the common uses of Mixbook

• Everyday Photo Books
• Wedding Photo Book
• Personalized Wedding Guest Photo Book
• Baby Memory Scrapbook
• Family Photo Album
• School Yearbook Photo Album
• Digital Scrapbook

Sizes of Mixbook Photo Book With a Free Shipping Coupon Code

You are offered 7 available sizes while using one of the Mixbook coupon codes.  They are of various sizes and specifically chosen to highlight your photo layouts beautifully.  There are several portrait styled layouts and a couple of landscape style layouts. I really like the coffee table style because I can freely keep the book out to show off and ease to look at.

• 12 x 12″ Deluxe Square
• 8.5 x 8.5 ” Classic Square
• 8.5 x 11″ Classic Portrait
• 14 x 11″ Coffee Table Landscape
• 11 x 8.5″ Classic Landscape
• 8 x 6″ Pocket Landscape
• 6 x 4″ Mini Landscape

Mixbook Photo Book Testimonials

“The Mixbook was fun and exciting to make. The quality of the book was excellent and I got my book 2-3 days after I ordered with express mail. All our friends loved it- several are on the way to making their own Mixbooks. ”- Laurie MacMartin

“The quality of the book was outstanding. I made this book for my son’s high school graduation gift, and everyone at the reception passed it around for hours. I received three phone calls the next morning from people who wanted the web address. ”- Merri Schneider

“I was hugely impressed with my latest Mixbook which I had done as a Christmas present for my brother. The Mixbook is a wonderful memento – to be treasured and handed down through generations. I am very impressed with the quality, cost and speed of delivery.” – Suzanne McIntyre

Free Shipping Coupon Codes for Mixbook Photo Books

• Save 15% On Mixbook Orders $49+ (Code MX150)
• Get Free Shipping on Your Mixbook Order (Code SHP4FREE)

100% Satisfaction Guarantee Backed by Mixbook Photo Books

Mixbook offers a complete 100% satisfaction guarantee. They are passionate about their business and making sure you receive an extremely high-quality book.  If you are unhappy for any reason with your memory book, you are welcome to send it back. They will replace or refund you immediately. Mixbook cares deeply that you are able to enjoy your memory books in the high-quality that you deserve.

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Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. – 1 John 3:18

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A God-loyal life keeps you on track;
sin dumps the wicked in the ditch.

A pretentious, showy life is an empty life;
a plain and simple life is a full life. – Proverbs 13:6-7

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“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”

Admitting a Mistake Will Transform Your Life

How far will you drive before you admit a mistake and must turn around?

How I Enjoyed the Day After Admitting My Own Mistake

This morning, I took my 2 sons blackberry picking. They were extremely psyched to go. They are always excited to go anywhere. I could say, “Hey, lets go sit in a cardboard box for 3 days straight and they would shout for joy and say I am the most awesome daddy in the world.

Kids just enjoy experiencing every aspect of life you can give.

We have went blueberry picking the past couple of years, but this was the first time for blackberries. I was informed that I actually missed the season for the blueberries which was a bummer so I decided I’d try blackberries this year. It was a new experience, and also a new farm.

I had no idea where it was located.

I planned to meet with my friend. She went the previous weekend and knew the route quite well. She always knows the route and is always prepared. I would be more jealous of her if it wasn’t for the fact I have grown to depend on her for my sanity. A smart man would’ve asked her for the directions and written them down.

People have accused me of many labels but smart man is not a popular one.

Instead of paying attention to my friend’s directions, I nodded my head and acted in my cool, nonchalant way. I pretended that I completely knew how to get there and I daydreamed about what song I was going to sing on my American Idol audition.

I knew there was a left turn at a light and some other road that I’d see.

The boys and I started driving down the highway. We entered dense woods and I figured that the road will approach us soon. I kept an eye out for the road where I needed to turn, but mostly focused on singing a family chorus of “Jingle bells, batman smells. Robin laid an egg…”

Yes, I am a single father with 2 sons. What song would you expect us to sing?

20 or so miles past and I started to wonder, “Did I miss the road? Should I turn around?” I decided against it. When all else fails, the best decision is always to go straight. Eventually, you will end up where you want or China. Either way, you know what you must do next.

“Welcome to Alachua County”

All of a sudden, I saw a large green sign that read, “Welcome to Alachua County.” Alachua County sits next to my own and is 30 miles past my destination. I pulled over to the side of the road and quickly turned the other way. I called my friend and said, “I think I am lost. Where was I supposed to turn?”

The boys asked why did I turn around and I told them that daddy got lost. They looked at each other and giggled, “Silly daddy, he always gets lost.”

I finally got us to the blackberry farm where we met up with my friend and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, but the experience led me to think about the truth of our stubbornness as a people. We alway continue down our own way no matter what God whispers in our heart until there is a big green sign that smacks us in the head and reads, “Hey, idiot. turn around. You missed your turn 20 miles the other way.”

In Order to Succeed You Must Know When to Turn Around and Admit Your Mistakes

In what ways are you continuing to drive straight in life when you were supposed to turn a hundred miles back?

Ask any Blogger and she will tell you that Seth Godin is king. Ask any marketer and he will tell you that Seth Godin is their hero. Seth Godin is to Marketing as Oprah is to women. His word is golden, literally. He sells millions of copies with every single book that he writes.

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
is one of his shortest yet most profound and popular books. In it, he discusses that sometimes we must quit in order to succeed. There will come a time in every endeavor in life that struggles will come and we will feel lost.

Do we persist and stick to the course? Seth says that we should quit.

We are taught at a young age that we must stay on track and never falter. We adhere to the cliche, “Winners never quit”. You will only achieve success and wealth when you ignore everyone else and stick to what is in front of you.

You admit to making a mistake the minute you quit or turn around.

The Illusion that Pride Fools You Into Believing About Your Mistakes

Pride sits inside the dark parts of our hearts and pulls to take control of it all. Pride tells us that we must never admit to making a mistake. We must never let anyone know we are lost. We must never turn around. We must never say I am sorry.

We must always believe that straight is always right.

While pride tries to fool you into believing that it has the secrets to personal wealth and success, it does not. It has ulterior motives. Pride wants to push everyone out of your life. Pride wants to get you completely alone in the dark so that it can feed off the energy that pours from your spirit.

Pride is a leech and an idiot.

The Most Influential People Have Owned Up to Their Mistakes

You must admit mistakes and you must turn around if you want to fully live the passions that God has placed inside of your heart. Michael Jordan stunk at professional baseball before returning to basketball in route to become one of the most prolific players in all of sports. Abraham Lincoln was a horrible businessman. He failed and bankrupt every time he opened shop before he realized his true calling of becoming one of America’s most important presidents.

I could not have enjoyed the delicious blackberry pie my sister made without admitting my own mistake and turning the car around.

One of the most beautiful and difficult aspects of the Christian faith is that we must give up on trying to reach heaven ourselves. We try for a perfect life. We work hard to find success and personal fulfillment, but we continue to make mistakes at every possible opportunity.

Such is life.

Pride and Mistakes that You Don’t Admit Will Control Your Life

The prophet Jeremiah wrote as a cry to the Israel people, “they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” He was begging them to take a moment to stop and look at their hearts. He wanted them to know that they would fall into destruction if they continued down the path.

All they had to do was stop, admit their mistakes and turn around.

Mistakes take control of our lives when we don’t own up to them. We make personal justifications that are pure crazy in order to fuse them into our lives. Once they become so engrained and justified, the mistakes create a monster whom enslaves our passions and leads us to a road of destructive bitterness.

The other day, I overheard a conversation with a homeless man. He was an intriguing fellow and was blind. I was sitting outside in the warm Florida sunshine drinking my $3 cup of coffee waiting to hear from a friend via my Google Android powered smartphone.

To clear things up, the blind homeless man wasn’t begging for any money. He only wanted to talk with someone. He started talking with the large, overweight, retired and seemingly successful man next to me. He told the large bald man, “Want to hear a funny story? I was robbed at knifepoint last night and got my cellphone stolen. There’s southern hospitality for you.”

The large man looked up from his newspaper and smiled then ignored the crazy blind bum for the next couple of minutes while munching on a delicious banana creme pastry.

After being ignored and going off about southern hospitality, this blind bum went to his next victim – a smiling young mom whose 4 year old was running around like a tornado. She responded differently and actually had a conversation with him. They talked about being robbed at knifepoint, ladies of the night, and southern hospitality.

An half hour past and he went inside the coffee shop. He went and purchased 2 frozen coffee drinks and an apple pie. He gave the woman 1 of the coffees and the apple pie.

I glanced over at my overweight friend with banana creme crumbs on his chin whom looked longingly at that warm apple pie.

Admit Your Mistakes and Reclaim the Freedom to Fulfill the Passions in Your Heart

When we learn how to admit our mistakes, we reclaim control of the direction of our lives. We receive the opportunity to turn around and continue down the journey to fulfill our passions. We are no longer wandering aimlessly down a road completely lost without a clue.

I encourage you to own up to your mistakes and turn around so that you can live fully the life of purpose that God desires for you. Don’t allow mistakes and pride control your life. God has a beautiful meaning for your life, but you must forget your pride and change course.

The writer of Lamentations says that God’s compassion and love never fails. They are renewed for us every morning. God will still provide your life with meaning and purpose no matter what stage of life you are at and what mistakes that you have made.

God can still paint your life of broken glass, dried up paint and trashed canvas into a work of art that would make Picasso cry.

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I can’t seem to get motivated to start on any of my goals. It frustrates me because I have so much on my list that I need to get done, but it keeps on slipping further and further away. I want to get started. I want to take over the world

But I just end up turning to shut the snooze button again for another 10 minutes.. Taking over the world can wait another 5 minutes.

Why can’t I get started?

Contribute Your Personal Motivational Strategies and Stories

I need some motivational tactics to help me get started throughout the day and I would like your help. What tactics or strategies have you used to start a goal or start your day? What was the difficult parts for you to overcome and how has finding the motivation helped you?

I want to collect a huge list of stories about how people motivate themselves. I will post them and feature them here at altNoise so we can all learn from one another. We all have our individual motivational strategies and maybe yours will help me.

Will you Contribute to the List and Help Those In Need of Motivation?

We all need your help. Don’t think that your story or strategies are too silly or inferior to post. I’m not looking for some grand motivational system that changes the world. I want to know what makes you wake up in the morning and ready to make an impact. How do you consciously choose to get things done?

My Sample Motivational Contribution

There was a point in time that I was an avid excellent walker and horrible runner. I tried to become a decent runner but it just didn’t work. Some say I walk like a penguin so you can imagine what a penguin looks like when they run. Anyway, I have recently gotten out of the habit. I have plenty of excuses which none are true, but I knew I needed to get back on the habit.

But I just couldn’t get started.

One day  recently, I literally sat on my couch looking out the door thinking, “Do I really want to do this? I am going to look like an idiot and its nearly 100 degrees outside. I think I am going to go strum my guitar.” I continued to sit there and watch outside. I knew that I needed to walk, but I couldn’t get motivated.

After 45 minutes of staring, I said outloud, “Stephen, quit being wimp. Just go walk outside. Walk to the road and if you want to continue then walk some more.”

So once I acknowledged my grandmother giving me strange looks for mumbling to myself, I stepped outside. I walked down to the road and continued. I kept walking for close to  2 1/2 hours. I would’ve walked some more, but it was getting dark and I was scared of the raccoons, opossums, and squirrels in the bushes next to me so I darted a 1 mile sprint to home.

It was exhilarating.

Focus on the First Step Not the Entire Project.

So my motivating contribution is to focus on taking one small step. Don’t focus on the entire project or everything that you must get done. This becomes overwhelming. All you need to do is take 1 step, write 1 word, put your feet on the ground, grab 1 piece of fruit. You can choose to continue after that initial movement.

You have a lifetime to take over the world. Today all you need to do is open the door.

How to Contribute Your Motivating Stories and Strategies

You don’t need to sign up or do anything special to contribute. All you need to do is skip to the comments section below and take 2 minutes to post your contribution. You can write a single sentence or 15 paragraphs (please be courteous. I’m the only one allowed to be obnoxiously long-winded around here). Thats it. Just share your story.

What will you win?

My friendship.

Help Us and Be Known as Someone Who Makes an Impact

Seriously, this project is for fun and a way to help out all of our friends. We need your contribution so we can make a huge list of motivational strategies together. Its an amazing chance for us all to work together and accomplish something really great. You have an amazing story which will make our list incomplete without it. Will you please share it with us?

Once all of the stories are collected, I plan to gather them and make huge post next week featuring all of them. I will list them all out so that you can print it and share it with anyone you know who needs a boost of motivation. Beside your contribution, I will list your name as someone that is positively making an impact on our lives.

* If you are a blogger or twitter user, I will link and post your blog/twitter account next to your contribution.

Remember ALL of Your Contributions are Welcome and Helps

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“Hope is contagious. Hope is like yeast and baking powder. It has an energy that makes things rise. If you want to know if you are good for others, ask yourself how much hope you’ve given them. It is there you will find your answer.” – Anne Lamott (Traveling Mercies)

Click Here to skip my review and go straight to Amazon to check out Anne Lamotts Traveling Mercies

My Review for Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies

If you have read Donald Miller’s popular book, “Blue Like Jazz” then you have came across the name of Anne Lamott. I would even go further and say that you have heard the name Anne Lamott even if you heard the name of Donald Miller. She is without a doubt the biggest influence on his writing.

I only realized how big of an influence she is on Donald Miller and well the entire spiritual writers community this past month because I just began reading her book – Traveling Mercies. I have heard her name being thrown around for years as one of the premier contemporary authors of today. Her words can dry the tears of babies, cure world hunger and even make Mike Tyson cry.

eh.. That’s nice.

Is Traveling Mercies Anything More than Hype?

I figured that one day I would get around to reading her most popular work, Traveling Mercies, but I’ll forget about the hype for the time being and go finish playing Angry Birds on my iPad.  I don’t enjoy following big hype crazes that will change the face of the world as we know it. The way that I see it is that I’m lazy. I’ll let someone else read the world changing book and then I can reap the rewards.

So I put it off.

until last month.

I needed a book for “Book of the Month”. Traveling Mercies foot the bill pretty well. An accomplished and popular writer who is the leader of a cult has a cult-like fanbase will be a feature for the month of June. I can surely churn up some Amazon affiliate sales with a link to her book. I might even earn enough to buy that attractive blonde next to me a cup of coffee.

Getting past the 6’4″ gorilla in man’s clothing  whom is sitting next to her will induce problems and pain though.

So I went out and purchased the Kindle version of Traveling Mercies on my iPad to read and write a fluffy review. I didn’t expect much as I said I’m not into cult-hype. I assumed it would be an easy read with at least a few interesting insights.

I was wrong.. I’m barely half-way through it.

Anne Lamott Shares Her Most Intimate Moments

The book is actually good. Excellent in fact. I was waiting for the book to disappoint me and leave me saying, “I knew it. I’m always more right than those silly latte-sipping, glasses wearing, smart word spewing book types who think they know it all.”

But the book truly is really great writing and you can quickly see its influence on Donald Miller and many of his sheep… me included.

Anne chronicles some of the most intimate and real moments of her life to share with us how it has all molded her personal faith. She reflects on all of her experiences with no event to be considered too personal or private. There is no censorship from fear that people will reject her.

Her life is completely open to the onslaught of hail that will surely come from the critical public.

In hopes that she may inspire a single reader to reach out for God.

We are moved to encourage her as she weeps through the loss of her beloved father. We then roll our eyes in disgust as she exposes her experience with abortion. We forgive her as she finds a home in church, but lose faith as she has a child out of wedlock. Will she ever become the saint whom we envy and love to hate? What can I learn from such a constant and wretched sinner?

She is not perfect.

Anne Lamott’s Imperfections and Real Life Exposed

The more I read her memoir, the more I hate her. I want her to be beautiful and perfect. I don’t want her to spew curse words or think about the stench of belly buttons. She needs flowing golden hair with unstained white wings that wrap around her perfectly curved body.

I need her to have the beautiful soprano voice that sings into the desires of my soul.

Instead, she talks about wasting her athletic talent for tennis so she could go get high. I hate this because its real. She doesn’t have wings nor gorgeous flowing golden hair. She does have the golden hair but they are matted in dreadlocks. She sins. She turns to God. She sins. She cries for God. She sins. She seeks God.

You think she finally has it.

She finally has the perfect faith with a perfect son in a perfect house surrounded by a perfect fence while rocking in a perfect chair that we so perfectly fake while having empty conversations with our also perfectly fake friends.

Then she falls again.

I am not through with the book, but I have a feeling that she will not reach that point of nirvana and enlightenment. She will continue to fail in a pursuit of perfected life but remain strong in knowing that God will always hold her in those darkest of nights.

God is there for us even though we are filthy misfits who clumsily waddle through an experience called life.

Traveling Mercies is Not a How To or Theology Book. Anne Lamott isn’t  for Everyone

This book does not please everyone as you can see when you travel to the land of Amazon and read the one star reviews. One of my favorite reviewers said, “Simply, I do not understand why the interest in this book. Very confused and lonely person with no answers.” Another one condemns her for use of foul language and others do not understand how this is a spirituality book.

These people are right.

This is not a how-to book where a Christian guru tells you the “7 secrets to a perfect prayer life” or “How to Live Sin-Free in 3 Easy Steps”.  There are no deep theological insights where you are wowed into her perfect logical explanation for the openness of God or why pink monkeys are in heaven. She would be foolish to write such things.

This book is for people who haven’t gotten past the mess and junk of reality. It is encouragement for the rest of us to know that it is okay we aren’t perfect Christmas tree ornament angels all of the time. Life isn’t always sunny for me nor is it without storm clouds for Anne either.

God still cares for us even though sometimes we enjoy the smell of our own fart a little too much.

Anne has plenty to say but it is up to you whether you chose to let her speak to your heart.

click here to check out Anne Lamotts Traveling Mercies on Amazon

Anne Lamott Traveling Mercies Reviews From Amazon

I had no idea what to expect in this, my first encounter with Anne Lamott. The wide assortment of reviews convinced me to purchase the book–plus, the idea of reverence paired with irreverence, since we can all use a little humor to season the subjects that matter most…that therefore become so stinkin’ divisive! Wow! When I’m not laughing at Anne’s great writing and gritty insights, I’m pushing down that lump in my throat. Anne plants and waters the flowers of faith and grace, but pats down their seeds beneath the coarse dirt and smelly manure of life… (Positive Review)

One of the best books about faith, this is not preachy in an off-putting way. Rather, Lamott’s honesty and humanity prove heart- and soul-warming. (Positive Review)

I found this book to be lacking the insights I was seeking. Anne Lamott’s life is simply not that inspiring. True, she is a recovering addict who is also a single mom. True, she is a writer. But I didn’t find any insights into the nature of God or faith in this book that I felt would qualify Lamott to teach me anything about God I couldn’t learn from my own life or my own prayer. (Negative Review)

No, I’m not an English lit professor, just a reader who enjoys a good book. I was curious about Ms. Lamott since there always seems to be controversy surrounding her and her work. Well, I’m not a member of the Christian Right, nor am I a Republican, and I am well read and I can say this book was a disappointment. If you order steak, pay for steak, and are given hamburger, you’re ticked. I was ripped off and I want a refund. Ms. Lamott should take a rest. (Negative Review)

Anne Lamott Traveling Mercies Quotes

“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a different past.”

“Traveling mercies: love the journey, God is with you, come home safe and sound”

“It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools – friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty – and said ‘do the best you can with these, they will have to do’. And mostly, against all odds, they do. “

Order Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies

Anyway, click here to check out Anne Lamotts Traveling Mercies on Amazon

p.s. If you have already read Traveling Mercies or purchase it through this link leave me your thoughts on the book and lets discuss what she is saying together.

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The Powerful Blogosphere

There are so many wonderful bloggers out there. I wish I could read them all, but I doubt that I even have found a small percentage of them. The blogging community truly rocks and they write many encouraging articles. They have inspired to me to take positive actions in my life to make a difference in my relationships and my world.

So I would like to share them with you.

I have mulled around the idea of sharing a weekly link-round up for several weeks. I want to help promote the blogging community at large and help encourage them. The majority of bloggers come home to write these powerful articles after spending their day grueling at work and stressing about responsibilities.

They write because they are passionate to make a positive impact on their world.

These bloggers do not get paid, but they write articles that transform the lives of their readers. My second goal is to share the most powerful articles that I have found from the previous week. I hope that the articles will inspire you to live your life with purpose as they have done for me.

Inspiring Links of the Week

Faith Barista: Never Been Kissed – Faith Barista, Bonnie Gray, shares her story of finding her husband. It is a wonderful story and will inspire you if you still are searching for ‘the one’. I also starred this article because she has collected other bloggers insights on the topic, “Finding the One.” It is a great collection and you can find many other great articles from her own.

The BridgeMaker: A Simple Path to the Making of You – Alex Blackwell from the BridgeMaker shares a memorable story where his son was asked for his autograph after a baseball game. The son shrugged it off because he played poorly, but Alex encouraged him to celebrate the accomplishment of making it to the level that he did. We should all take time from our day to celebrate the hard work that we have gone through to the ‘Making of you’.

Take Responsibility – And Change Your Life – Ali Luke from Aliventures encourages us to take responsibility in making positive changes in our life. Many times, we enter a victim mindset. I know that I’ve fallen into the trap where I can’t understand why the world is hindering my success. Ali shares that we need to recognize the opportunity to change and take responsibility to make sure the change happens.

10 Simple Rituals for a Better Day – The amazing Barrie Davenport from Live Bold and Bloom and created the Develop Your Passion course that I am working through shares 10 times throughout the day that she has a certain habit to make her day positive. These are habits that she has developed from experience and concentrated effort. She wrote in her article, “Just focus on today. That’s much easier to grasp and manage than focusing on your entire lifetime.”.

What is Grace – Mary Kathryn Tyson opens up her blog about the discussion of grace. The post is wonderfully written to embrace the reader’s opinions on the subject. Mary is a wonderful writer but I have highlighted this post because of the discussion in the comments. The comments truly inspired me and was a great reminder to the power of God’s grace upon us.

These are the articles for the first edition of Inspiring Links to Rock Your Life. I hope that they inspire you as they have done for me. I also encourage you to participate in the communities and leave your opinions. These bloggers share their thoughts from the passion inside of their own lives so leave them a little encouragement by saying thank you.

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Click Here toskip my review and go straight to the 40% Off Tea Clothing Coupon for Kids and Women.

Several weeks ago, I came across the Tea Collection clothing company. I found them through searching for available affiliate sales opportunities. I checked them out and quickly signed up with them. They really have a superior and unique design and quality. I thought for sure that all of you readers would enjoy checking them out.

But I forgot to mention anything.

Tea Clothing Coupon for Children and Women

I received an interesting email this afternoon from the Tea Collection. They told me that they were having their huge store wide semi-annual sale. They told me that they only have these huge sales twice a year and very rarely ever have any other sales.

Ya, sure.

I have been taken for a sleazy sales pitch quite a few times, but I wasn’t going to let an email fool me. I decided to do some research about the company and they are telling the truth. I went to Google and several forums and they do only rarely provide such a huge sales. The people in the forums were all actually quite crazy about this huge sale from the Tea Collection which actually freaked me out.

Honestly, who gets that excited about a clothing sale? (ladies, don’t answer this).

The Awesome Guitar Shirt I Found for My Boys

As many of you know, I have 2 young sons. They always bring a smile to my face and we always have a lot of fun together. They both enjoy playing a song with me as I strum my guitar. I actually have a video on Facebook of all of us playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. My youngest gets up from the drumset in the middle of the song and tells me that he is bored.

I enjoyed the experience even if nobody else did.

Well, I was browsing the Tea Collection website and I found an awesome shirt with a guitar on it. I knew that my boys would love it and well I probably would love it even more. I’m no fashion guy but I know guitars. This guitar is styled in a Spanish classical form.. which is sweet.

but not $17 sweet.

It is a truly spectacular shirt but I’m not spending $17 for a t-shirt that the boys will ruin and grow out of in 2 weeks (they just wont stop eating!). Then I remembered about the 40% off sale and I recalculated the price – $9. I can splurge a little for shirt with a guitar on it for $9.

After all, they will wear it for 5 months and not get any stains on it.

The Tea Collection Clothing Story – Who They Are

Have you ever dreamed of the free-spirited and fun styles of the Caribbean, Barcelona or Mediterranean?

I used to wear Hawaiian shirts everywhere I would go my freshman year of high school. I do live in Florida, but even that is unacceptable here (please no jokes about my lack of girlfriends – I am sensitive). This was silly, but I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the beach and wanted to portray it in my clothing.

Fail.. terribly.

Designer Clothing with a Global Style

Tea Collection rescues my troubled and tortured fashion sense. They succeed in designing in truly breathtaking clothes that really speak to the heart of global selves. They have 4 unique collections for children and women that I cannot pronounce. Their designs are inspired from around the world.

They are truly the global clothing company connecting us to the larger world.

I find that pretty cool.

Magazines, Celebrities and Me are all Buzzing About Tea Collections

Tea Collection is a newer clothing line that came out in 2002 but has already set the world on fire with buzz, awards and accolades. Inc, magazine has listed them in the top 100 consumer retail companies in the world since 2007 which is an amazing recognition. You can find their children’s clothing in high end stores like Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdales.

A pretty great feat for such a young company.

You are buying premium designs when you shop at Tea Collection which makes them pricier. Celebrities such as Julia Roberts and Katie Holms both enjoy sporting their children with Tea Collection clothing. I am not a celebrity so I  do not generally shop at such stores because I can’t afford them unless there is a big sale. I do respect the high-quality, creativity and detail that good designers put in their shirt.

For now I will wait to shop at such stores until I become a celebrity.. or until a good sale comes around.

Tea Collection Generously Gives to Children in Need

I can’t afford their clothes without a huge sale, but I can forgive the Tea Collection because they give 50% of all of their profits from their Little Citizens line to the charity – Global Fund for Children. This means that when I buy a nice designer shirt at $30 for my son that they will give $15 to help start a community center in Haiti, Guyana or similarly poor country for the children.

In essence, I am buying my son a truly unique shirt that he can feel confident wearing while helping to make an impact on the children of our world.. I can’t do that when I buy from Target.

40% off Tea Clothing Coupon For All Children and Women Designer Styles

Here is your reward for reading through my self-absorbed rant on finding a guitar shirt for my sons. I am posting my affiliate link with the 40% off coupon. I do not know how long it will be active so you might want to check it out now.

Click the Image or Here for 40% off at Tea Collection Clothing

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How dare they!

Well, I’ve decided to embrace the questions and every month I am going to post the changes with results I made the previous month along with the ones I plan on making on the upcoming month. I will also include the statistics and possibly my revenue (if there is anything).

Reasons to Share Insights and Statistics for altNoise

I wish I could say that I came up with this idea all by my lonesome, but I cannot. I am only a copycat. I follow a man named Pat Flynn who does the same thing on his uber-successful blog SmartPassiveIncome.com. His focus is showing his monthly income (which should convince you to stay away from a medical profession). You can see his April 11 report by clicking here.

I will report my income from altNoise which currently is sad in comparison to Mr. Pat Flynn, but won’t be the primary focus. I hope to accomplish two goals with this endeavor.

One for you and one for me.

My primary goal is to provide an opportunity to show you the inner workings of this hugely successful, popular decently viewed website. You can see the changes I’ve made and all of the ways I totally made the wrong choices. In other words, its an outlet for you to get a good laugh.

I also hope to use this opportunity to list my own personal goals for the upcoming month. Showcasing personal goals to friends and people greatly enhances your chances of succeeding in all endeavors. I believe that I was able to lose over 60 lbs of weight healthily primarily because I shared my goal with friends and family.

Exciting Things that Happened in May at altNoise

1. 17,921 Unique Visitors to altNoise

altNoise reached a new plateau in increased traffic in the month of May. We had nearly 18,000 visitors this month. This is a huge increase from April’s numbers with 12,875 visitors.  This consists of a 39% increase from last month. I am greatly happy with this results.

Even bigger results is the amount of visitors compared to this time last year. I enjoyed a 430% increase of visitors in May of ’11 compared to May of ’10. This was nice but wasn’t a huge surprise. I have written many new articles that have done very well in search engines.

I also expect a much larger percentage of increase this time next year.

2. Over 100 New Email Subscribers

I created an email tips newsletter in the month of May. My goal is to write very personal tips to the loyal readers that have to do with their very real problems. These encouraging tips help individuals live passionately a life on purpose.

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of newsletter sign-ups. Many of the marketing guru’s said that I needed to write an ebook to give away in order to get a huge amount of sign-ups. This didn’t make sense to me.

I needed to give away something for free in order to trick people into letting me give away more things for free?

I didn’t buy the hype and didn’t waste my time creating something that nobody would read. I promoted the purpose of the newsletter which is to give personalized tips to live life with passion and purpose. I didn’t know what to expect but I was blown away with the results.

I received over 100 new subscribers in the first month. This is amazing stats for the small blog of this size to receive without giving away an ebook.

Quick Note: I don’t discourage creating free ebooks. Free stuff is always good to give away. Who doesn’t like free? I’m not entirely against giving something away to increase my subscriber count and I probably will try it in the future. My dilemma was if I should go ahead and start sharing my high quality tips or wait until I rush through an ebook which wouldn’t enjoy the quality my readers expect from me.

I chose to start sharing the personal tips which are also free.

May Disappointments for altNoise

1. No Significant Increase of Time on Site or Decrease of Bounce Rate

You may have noticed that I took down nearly all of my Google Adsense ads. This was a tough decision because I was able to pay several personal bills from the earnings of such. I did it because I wanted to focus on helping visitors find all the great content on my website and subscribe to my newsletter.

I expected that the removal of the ads would greatly increase the average person’s time on my website. There was a minimal increase from 35 seconds to 55 seconds from this time a year ago. Anything around a minute is very good for a website of my size.

2. Rebuild ENTIRE Newsletter Sign Ups

I received over 100 email sign-ups in May which was amazing, but I had to start over. I switched from Constant Contact to Aweber to provide an efficient way to deliver all of those emails. I picked Constant Contact randomly without any thought or suggestion. It was a decent experience but I knew there was better.

I switched to Aweber from the recommendation of nearly thousands of bloggers. They have a superior reputation and are considered the best. I signed up and am quite impressed with all of the great features and reports. I do not plan to switch again and only wish I chose them from the beginning.

Lesson learned.

Personal Goals for June

altNoise has grown consistenly for a long time now. 2011 is growing to become a breakout year for this website and I am excited for the many things to come. I have huge plans for this site  and am coming up with new thoughts everyday.

Hopefully some of them will work out.

1. Add Video Posts to the Site

I am planning to add a video section to the website. I don’t have an official launch date for the first video, but I am becoming more excited about it daily. I am spending countless hours on other blogs whom use video and how they best implement it.

The videos will provide inspirational thoughts and words of encouragement to help you pursue your life with passion and purpose. Check back soon because I have already started researching the information for the first video.

2. Write 2k Words a Day Towards My First Novel

Staying consistent with the site’s goal of creating lives full of passion, I have embarked on my own life’s dream – writing books. Yes, I am a nerd and if you can’t tell, I enjoy writing.. too much.

I have always dreamed of writing books ever since I was young, but never thought it was a worthwhile endeavor. I thought that once I am old and have a huge gray beard that I could at least fake having something useful to say. But I can’t do it now.

Nonsense.

Is my book going to crash, burn and not a single copy? Quite possibly, but I don’t care. I am going to write fictional stories and worlds you can discover and escape the craziness of life.

I will share more details of my first novel in a future article.

3. Discover My Passion

Barrie Davenport from Live Bold and Bloom is an amazing person and a truly gifted coach. I read her blog every time she publishes a new article. They are always extremely insightful and I encourage you to go check her out.

She composed an online course entitled Discover Your Passion. It contains 7 highly detailed modules that helps one create their dream life. Some of the goals are to create a vision of your ideal life and identify fears that hold you back.

After much belly-button watching and procrastination, I have decided to take her course. I am not necessarily bored with life but I think her course will greatly improve my own pursuit of a writing career and just life in general. I don’t know whats in store, but I have high expectations.

Click here to check out the course.

Success of May – Highly Positive with a Side of Baked Potato

May was a very great month for altNoise. I hope to keep the momentum going, but I am most grateful for all of you who regularly visit to read my rants on nonsense and life. I will continue to produce 2-3 high quality posts to help you live life with Purpose and Passion.

Thank you all for your encouragement and as we all contribute to making an impact on our world.

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