You may have noticed I’ve been distant and hard to contact in recent weeks. It’s been a life altering time for me. To my Mormon friends and readers, I apologize for the brazen comments below. I’ve undergone many life choices and changes in the past few months, and some of them have included leaving the Mormon church. I love my Mormon friends and associates, but know I’ve made the conscious choice to separate myself from the organization. I do not seek to give this post an anti-Mormon signature, but these are the events that occurred and my honest thoughts behind them. It is my sincere hope that the comments below save or give hope to at least one individual who is feeling discouraged. You are loved. Follow your heart, and the universe will help.

This is from the heart, and I wanted you to hear.

I’ve never been happier, since the time I decided to start following my heart.

One recent choice was in leaving the Mormon church.

Leaving was certainly one of the most difficult ventures I’ve ever taken part in.

In its simplicity, I chose a different path from that of my parents, grandparents, family members, and many friends. It was the very societal structure I once considered my “home” and “happy place.”

I was scared to leave.

My Inner Pain

For years the pain of being “different” from the rest ate at my soul.

I discovered I was bisexual at the young age of 11.

I simply knew I was attracted to both men and women. At the time I thought, “How could this be? Was I loved? Was this a punishment or trial I had to encounter throughout life in order to come closer to God?” For years and years, being the eldest of six children, churchgoing, and a young man with a strong will – I pushed those feelings away. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time.

I boxed up my human sexuality, an important part of life, and threw it away in hopes that God would heal me.

It went as far as causing me to go on a mission for the Mormon church.

I believed.
I wanted to.

It was prayer from the beginning, and I remember vividly asking, “God, if you are there, if I serve a valiant mission, will you take this bitter side of my sexuality away? I know it is wrong to be attracted to men, but for me it feels right too. It doesn’t feel wrong. Why is that? Will you fix it? Will you fix me? Will you change me? Christian?”

Now let me make it perfectly clear that aside from my inner struggles with the Mormon church, its doctrine (e.g. from my beliefs of God, the unknown, Prophets, organized religion, and more), and my own beliefs; I gained much from my mission. It was an honor to serve people. I grew from the experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s helped make me the person I am today.

“Why can’t I hold all these limes?”

A year into my mission I became terribly ill.

After a long battle (and almost two years of misdiagnosis) it was finally found I had Lyme disease.

Battling Lyme disease became my mountain to climb, as well as the other mountains I would soon climb.

The pain of Lyme disease caused me much discomfort.

With Lyme disease it’s not enough to just “live.”
There must be something to live for.

Add to the Lyme battle that I was still fighting back my disbelief of the Mormon church, containing my sexuality, the church retracting my health care coverage and trying to be positive at all times - it all became too much.

The End of Life

For months and months and months I thought about death being an easy escape.

It occurred in my mind over, and over again. 

It all came to a certain, vivid point in my life when I decided I would end my life.

Heavy doses of drugs and my shotgun, and all would soon be peaceful.

Throughout that day I was nervous, and feeling rather ill, so I decided to rest.

I turned on some music and laid in bed.

The song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow (by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole), came on.

I sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed.

I couldn’t go through with what I was planning.

I realized I was strong.
Stronger than death.
Stronger than pain.
Stronger than hurt.

The words spoke to me…

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops that’s where you’ll find me

Music saved my life.

The Awakening

All at once I realized many things.

I was talented.

I was special.

I was different.

I was loved.

I had problems.

I was, who I am, who I is…Christian.

That’s when I decided I needed to tell my parents about my beliefs, and finally make what I believed inside, what was true for me on the outside too.

Within a short period of time they came to know about my bisexuality, as well as my removal from church activity.

What occurred over the next month between some family members and friends became bitter, sad, and hurtful. Separation occurred.

However, from this point on I will strive to be a positive person, and will do my best to forget this period of my life.

When I find myself in times of trouble…let it be.

The rest, is history.

A Time of Happiness

Again, I state, I’ve never been happier since making these changes in my life.

I’ve even gained 6 pounds in the last two weeks. Nothing says happiness like a full tummy and round cheeks!

For the first time ever, I don’t know what comes around the next corner. I don’t know what’s coming after the bend. There’s no organization telling me what my next move should be.

Is it marriage? Is it this? Is it that? I don’t know. But why should we?

Life wouldn’t be a journey if we knew what was coming, and replaced our own free will and choice with someone or some-thing to make those decisions for us.

For the first time in my life I help other people because I want to.

I help others because Christian wants to help others.

Not Jesus, not my Dad, not Oprah, not my friend, not Ghandi, not God. But me.

For this reason, I feel the direction of my life is changing.

I want to travel the globe and see the different people on it. I want to experience cultures. I hope to one day find myself in a position of influence in order to help bring clothes, food, shelter, medicine, and more…to those who are less privileged. I hope to make changes for good. I hope to serve. And why? Because I want to.

For the first time in a long time, I feel more comfortable about my body. I’m finding the freedom from religious bondage quite lovely. I drink coffee, and I love it. I socially drink, and it’s enjoyable. I have long, deep conversations about life with my friends; some of whom are Atheist, Baptist, Born Again Christian, and Buddhist. All people whom it would have been more difficult to meet and associate with in my previous life.

I’m grateful I’m not missing out on their company.

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

For the first time ever, I feel good enough.

I know I am not perfect, yet I also know now that I am perfect the way I am.

I have scars, mishaps, marks, and differences from others; but that’s what makes me, me.

I’m finally very happy, and I’m not going anywhere.

My thoughts are brought back to the words of the song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and I think of that simple word.

Somewhere.

Somewhere is where we find our place in this world.

Not there, not here, nor anywhere; but somewhere. Is it a certain religion? Is it a certain school? Is it a certain job?

Nope, it’s somewhere.

The past few months have been a lesson in life, and finding that somewhere for me.

I’m growing to love others for who they are, and ultimately, coming to love myself.

These words are difficult to share.

They’re a glimpse into my life, heart, and soul.

However, if I preach transparency, them I’m sure as hell going to be transparent.

Whether you agree with me or not, this is who I am, and I present myself to you…

“Hello, I’m Agnostic. I’m Christian.”

Tasmania photo by Lozula of Finding The Universe.

I’m one of the six finalists in the Most Likeable Marketing Thought Leader category for the 2012 Likeable Awards.

Voting occurs from now until May 9th.

If you can spare a vote, I’d really appreciate it.

1. Visit this link: http://likeableawards.com
2. Click VOTE NOW
3. Select MOST LIKEABLE MARKETING THOUGHT LEADER category
4. Select CHRISTIAN HOLLINGSWORTH as the finalist
5. Enter the code
6. Click VOTE

I sit in humble appreciation of all those who constantly push, prod, and poke me to reach for more.

Passion for life. That’s the way.

Passion – strong and barely controllable emotion.

Tweeting someone back? Put your passion in it. Mulling over finances? Put your passion in it. Giving a hug? Put your passion in it. Writing a blog post? Put your passion in it. Planning a trip? Put your passion in it. At the gym trying to work off an extra ten pounds by running on the treadmill? Put your passion in it. Meditating? Put your passion in it. Crying? Put your passion in it. Performing on stage? Put your passion in it. Yelling? Put your passion in it. Cleaning the house? Put your passion in it. Shopping for your favorite pair of jeans? Put your passion in it. Giving someone a shoulder to cry on? Put your passion in it. Looking for a better job? Put your passion in it. Creating a YouTube video? Put your passion in it. Starting your own business by investing your retirement funds as capital? Put your passion in it. Eating a glorious meal? Put your passion in it. Laughing? Put your passion in it. Trying to be creative? Put your passion in it. Healing? Put your passion in it. Fixing a problem? Put your passion in it. Drawing a picture from memory? Put your passion in it. Riding a ride at Disneyland? Put your passion in it. Flying over the open ocean to reach a destination? Put your passion in it. Getting married? Put your passion in it. Rowing a boat? Put your passion in it. Studying for a final exam? Put your passion in it. Performing at a recital? Put your passion in it. Loving? Put your passion in it. Jumping for joy? Put your passion in it. Striving to make more money? Put your passion in it. Trying to dress better? Put your passion in it. Reading? Put your passion in it. Writing a novel? Put your passion in it. Greeting customers? Put your passion in it. Smiling? Put your passion in it. Grieving over the loss of a loved one? Put your passion in it. Writing in your journal? Put your passion in it. Sleeping? Put your passion in it. Solving a math equation? Put your passion in it. Flying a kite? Put your passion in it. Making a child laugh? Put your passion in it. Enjoying the sunshine? Put your passion in it. Sobbing uncontrollably while watching The Notebook? Put your passion in it. Loving another as yourself? Put your passion in it. Watching the sunset? Put your passion in it. Taking a picture? Put your passion in it. Facebook status update? Put your passion in it. Spellcheck? Put your passion in it.

Living life?
Put your passion in it.

Planehenge photo by Lozula, who blogs over at Finding the universe. I think his photography is some of the best on the face of the globe. I’d prefer his photography over the morning paper any-day.

If you are using gravity forms plugin to manage form management system of your blog then you should surely check this list of wordpress plugins because it might be useful for you to empower your gravity forms in all aspects. It makes your work much easier than before.

1. Gravity Forms HubSpot Add-on

This wordpress plugin uses Hubspot Lead API to allow you to send landing pages based on your gravity forms to pass lead information to Hubspot.

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2. Gravity Forms Highrise Plugin

Highrise is a web based contact manager application  which act asa central place to keep all of your customers and user information like data’s, email ids, notes and much more organized at once place. This plugin will integrate gravity forms with highrise account so you can upload user information directly from gravity forms dashboard.

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3. Gravity forms Stripe Addon

Stripe allows you to process credit cards securely and easily directly on your site without having to deal with merchant account. This nifty wordpresss plugin will integrate stripe with your gravity forms plugins so you can process all credit card information from gravity forms.

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4. Mad Mimi Add-on

It is a simple and powerful email marketing utility for wordpress powered blogs. It is the simple way to create brand by many customized emails newsletter and promotions. This madmini wordpress plugin will adds all functionality with gravity forms so users email and data’s stored in gravity forms database can be accessed via madmini.

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5. iContact

iContact is the popular email marketing software from vocus. This tiny addons wil integrate gravity forms with iContact account so whenever an user signup or register in your site their email address will be automatically added to your iContact dashboard which can be further used for sending newsletter and other messages.

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6. PixCaptcha Image Captcha

This tiny wordpress plugin will add unique image identification CAPTCHA to gravity forms of your website to protect your website from spam and invalid entries.

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7. Gravity forms Toolbar

A lightweight plugin which adds gravity forms related options and settings to your wordpress admin / toolbar that makes easier for you to change the gravity forms setting s on –the-go.

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8. CapsuleCRM Add-on

CapsuleCRM is excellent customer relationship management software that helps you to track of the people and companies and make communication with them. By installing this plugin it will completely bridge the gap between capsule CRM and gravity forms plugin but it required premium version of gravity forms plugin.

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9. Gravity forms Pop-up

A small wordpress widget to add Gravity Form in dialog popup style box that add a delay, a position, and an introduction page.

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10. Placeholders add-on

It adds HTML5 placeholder support to your gravity forms plugin with a JavaScript fallback. You need JavaScript and jQuery to run this plugin.

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11. ShootQ add-on

ShootQ is powerful cloud based photographer studio management software that helps you to connect with users, photographers and all client contacts easily. This tiny wordpress plugin will connect gravity forms with your ShootQ account for collecting all leads you get.

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Enjoyed reading the article? If you know any other wordpress plugin that will helps to power up gravity forms please share with us in comments.

About the Author

This is a guest post by Ron Davis. A freelance blogger and a passionate social media marketer, who is currently working on the site Gravity forms discount where you can buy gravity forms at 40% off and get detail information about gravity forms addons.

This guest post is by Mandy Kilinskis, who works as a content developer for Quality Logo Products.

Social media contests and promotions can be awesome. They build recognition, increase your followers and fans, and interest people in your products.

On the other hand, if not properly executed, you could have a potential public relations disaster.

Many companies spend time and energy developing a great promotion, but kick back once the winners are picked.

But problem is what can really make or break your promotion is how quickly you respond to your winners.

So here are four tips to ensure that your winners are happy, and your brand makes it through your promotion unscathed.

1. Contact your winner(s).

Pick your winners in a timely manner. I use the vague “timely manner” because response time depends on the type of contest and how many entries you have. If you have a thousand essays to read, that may take weeks; if you have a hundred Instagram pictures to sort through, that only needs days.

Social media has shortened the patience of the average consumer. So even though they are receiving a free product or service, they will criticize if you take too long to respond.

Pro tip: Pick alternates; though don’t advertise that you did.

2. Collect necessary information.

Once you’ve made your selection, contact your winners via email or their social media accounts. Give them clear, easy information and guidelines about how to contact you about collecting their prize.

If you don’t receive a response, try contacting them again in a few days. If there’s still no answer, you’ve done the most you can. Either drop that particular prize altogether, or move on to one of your alternates.

Pro tip: Check your email and accounts often to catch responses. Make sure you browse through your spam filters to see if their emails landed up there.

3. Keep your winners informed.

Once you have all of the necessary information from your winners, be sure to send them a confirmation email. If possible, give them a very loose estimated time of arrival. Feel free to send multiple email updates about the state of your contest.

Keeping your winners up to date won’t just delight them, but it will also save you the hassle of having answer each and every “When is my prize coming????” email, wall post, or tweet.

Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to tell your winners if it will take a while to get their prizes shipped out. Waiting is far better than wondering.

4. Send out your prize.

Once you have everything in order, get those prizes sent out! Ask your winners to take pictures with their prizes and post them on your Facebook wall. Happy brand advocates and user-generated content? What more could you ask for?

Pro tip: Announce that you’re sending out prizes on your social media accounts in addition to emailing the recipients. You’ll generate a ton of buzz with anticipation!

Without acting fast and keeping your winners in the know, you risk the possibility of losing valuable customers and generating negative word of mouth. And nobody wants that!

Have you held any social media promotions? If so, were they successful? Any tips you’d like to add?

—

Mandy Kilinskis is a content developer for Quality Logo Products. When she’s not writing descriptions for their promotional tote bags, she’s writing blog posts about improving your work place.

I decided to take part in the #PhotoADayMay challenge created by @fatmumslim.

For the next month I’ll be using my iPhone to take photos of each day’s “prompt,” of which you can see a text version below. Once I’ve taken the photo, I’ll use Instagram to promote the daily photo to my various social networks.

You’ll find the photo I took for “peace” to the right. It’s a photo of my little frog statue. Reading has always been my peaceful place.

I invite you to join me in this photo challenge during the month of May.

It’s a great way to ponder, think, and grow.

The photo prompts by day:

1. peace
2. skyline
3. something you wore today
4. fun!
5. bird
6. you
7. someone that inspires you
8. a smell you adore
9. something you do everyday
10. a favorite word
11. kitchen
12. something that makes you happy
13. mum
14. grass
15. love
16. what you’re reading
17. snack
18. something you made
19. a favorite place
20. something you can’t live without
21. where you stand
22. pink
23. technology
24. something new
25. unusual
26. 12′o clock
27. something sweet
28. the weather today
29. a number
30. your personality
31. something beautiful

In what ways do you hope to grow from this exercise? How often do you take photos? Have you ever completed a photo journalism challenge? Do you believe pictures are worth a thousand words? Do you have a favorite photo?

Recently I had the opportunity to donate some funds to help purchase “The Hunger Games” books for a classroom in a low-income area nearby. Below is what the teacher had to say about her student’s experience, which I thought was rather touching. Giving to others is an important part of life, and I hope to continually remember how important it is to inspire, motivate, and be an example to children of all ages.

Dear Christian Hollingsworth,

I cannot adequately express my gratitude for our new The Hunger Games books. When the box was opened the screams of delight went through the roof. To have 40 brand new books presented to my students is unimaginable. Recently, we were taping together shared copies of The Giver, and unfortunately many of our shared novels have been ruined due to lack of funding to replace them. Your donations to buy these new novels could not have come at a better time.

To hold a book that has never been touched before is something many of my students have never experienced; the enjoyment of creasing a new book brings smiles to my students’ faces. The ability to teach new and current curriculum doesn’t come easily with budget cuts. Because of your kindness, I am on the cutting edge and now all of the 7th graders want to have Language Arts in my class because we get to read The Hunger Games. In addition to reading the story, the kids are counting the days until we get to go to the movies (which will be in May after STAR testing).

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you! You have provided something neither I, nor my district, could have done. Your kind actions have not gone unnoticed!

With gratitude,
Mrs. Andrus

This is an infographic created and shared by OnlineMBAPrograms.org.

Meghan Faye Wolff is the senior copywriter and marketing specialist for Instabill Corporation. Instabill offers online payment processing solutions for offshore and high risk merchants around the world. Meghan blogs about leading e-commerce and payment industry news.

As a business owner, you don’t have to limit your customer service department to answering phone calls and emails. There are many ways to enhance your company’s customer service, including using social media.

Whether you like it or not, people are talking about your business online — so embrace it by following the five best ways to use social media as a customer service tool.

1. Monitor what people are saying about you and respond to their problems (or praises!) in a quick fashion. In Twitter, search your company’s name to see what positive and negative feedback your company is receiving. Check your mentions for tweets and direct messages frequently. Whether a customer expresses disappointment, has a question, or shows gratitude, always respond to your customers as soon as possible. Also, make sure you respond to customers when they post on your Facebook fan page wall. They’re reaching out to you, and you shouldn’t ignore them. Facebook is much more visible to the masses than Twitter, so if a customer’s problem goes unresolved, others will notice. Not responding to your customers on social media sites may dissuade people from doing business with you.

2. Grant employees within your customer service department access to your company’s Twitter account. With more employees covering customer service on social media sites, you’ll be able to reach more people in a shorter amount of time. To prevent duplicate responses, schedule timeframes for customer service specialists to be responsible for covering each site. Have your employees sign their tweets with their initials, so they know who is talking with them.

3. Initiate and engage in conversations with your customers. If you see that someone has recently liked you on Facebook or followed you on Twitter, check out their page to see if they mentioned purchasing goods or services from your company. If they have, ask them if they were happy with what they bought. For those who were unhappy, find a solution that will make them happy and a returning customer.

4. Connect on LinkedIn for a more professional customer service experience. While Facebook and Twitter are more social, LinkedIn is more of a network of professionals. Connecting with existing and potential customers on LinkedIn will establish a more professional relationship — which may be ideal if you’re a B2B company. Although business owners can create a page for their company on LinkedIn, members of the community have to create their own individual profile, helping employees and customers really getting to know one another.

5. Let your customers know they can reach you anytime via social media. While your customer service phone line may go to an answering machine after office hours, social media never sleeps. Publish posts on a regular basis letting your customers know that they can always contact you with questions and concerns through social media.

When you receive a complaint through social media, how long does it take you to respond? How do you handle your customer relationships on social media websites? What advice do you have for businesses that have recently jumped on the social media bandwagon? 

This is an interview with Wanda Shapiro, an indie author whom The LA Independent has labeled, “the next avant-garde literary find.”

Why did you choose to be an “indie” author?

The indie business model is about individual artists and entrepreneurs leveraging available technology to bring products or services directly to audiences and markets.

Indie ventures are having success across a wide variety of industries because they bring a level of originality and quality to otherwise homogenous markets.

No matter what you’re doing, the human learning curve happens naturally over time and with repitition – and writing is no different.

For me, going indie was a business decision made after a good deal of research and soul searching. It was not a decision I made lightly, and it was not a simple decision, but in the end it was not a difficult decision.

There were four basic reasons why I decided to go indie: because I realized I could; because the publishing industry is in shambles; because big publishing isn’t selling literary fiction well; and because readers are ready for indie literature.

You can read more about my decision here.

Where did your love for writing develop?

Long before I loved to write, I loved to read and books were a big part of my life growing up.

It’s hard to tell what part of that is nurture and what part of that is nature, but writing feels like what I’m supposed to be doing.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

Take responsibility for your own writing career and work very hard.

Whether you self-publish or traditionally publish, a writing career does not simply materialize and many aspiring authors have frighteningly unrealistic expectations. If your goal is to get rich, you might want to rethink your plan. And if your goal is to get rich quick, you need a serious reality check.

Being an author is something you do because you love it, and no matter how your book gets to market, it’s a lot of work.

Are authors currently harnessing the power of social media and online marketing?

Some yes, some no.

Some absolutely despise social media while others of us are embracing it and mining it’s connectivity potential. I was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion regarding the intersection of social media and publishing.

I recommend taking a look at the highlights from that discussion if you’re interested in this topic.

How does an author improve their writing, each day?

No matter what you’re doing, the human learning curve happens naturally over time and with repitition – and writing is no different.

However, that being said, I think it’s important for writers to have intelligent, honest feedback from readers in their genre. And it’s important that your early feedback readers be in your genre. If you’re writing literary fiction, for example, it doesn’t help to get feedback from someone who only reads romance novels and the opposite is equally true.

How do you generate interest and traffic for your work online?

My publicity model revolves completely around word-of-mouth which is generated using a few of the various social media platforms available today.

I primarily leverage Facebook and Twitter though I have branched out into Triberr and Google+.

I have never paid for advertising or reviews and I can’t imagine ever doing that.

My plan is all about readers are the ones driving traffic and generating interest.

What’s your favorite food (dish) and why?

Watermelon. Because it’s just perfect.

Do you believe in happily ever after?

Not really. Life would be so boring if everything was happily ever after.

About Wanda

The LA Independent called Wanda Shapiro, “the next avant-garde literary find,” and since the debut of her first novel she has been compared to Hemingway, Salinger, Hitchcock, Burroughs, Marquez, and Calvino. The level of quality Shapiro is bringing to the literary fiction market combined with her indie business model has fans calling her a one-woman Random House and according to one reader, “Sometimes That Happens With Chicken…blazes beyond what we have come to expect from modern fiction…” For more information regarding Wanda Shapiro visit www.onegirlonenovel.com.

Wanda’s Work (from Chapter 1 of Sometimes That Happens With Chicken: A Novel)

Theirs was a well-planned and well-executed secret life that neither of them minded keeping a secret in the face of their love. And their secret life resulted in a rather happy childhood for Ignatious Gillard. By the age of twelve, for having rarely stepped foot out of the renovated fortress at Al-Kharj where he lived with his mother and was visited by his father, Ignatious was quite mature, rather well-educated, completely un-neurotic, and speaking English in a strange accent that he would never quite lose and that no one could ever place. Now, Ignatious Gillard dreams about the happy days of his childhood but doesn’t remember his dreams in the morning. He was properly well-educated after he left Arabia, but he is no longer what you’d call completely un-neurotic. And he still has an accent which is thoroughly unrecognizable.

I was challenged by my friend Jocelyn to write 7 facts about myself.

The opportunity couldn’t be passed up, so I thought I would do my best to come up with a few.

Maybe you already knew these things about me? Maybe not? Surprised? Here it goes.

1) My favorite cuisine is Thai. Thai food is delicious, and I do my best to order a Thai dish in almost every city I visit at least once. I’m lucky to have one of the best Thai restaurants (in my opinion) only twenty minutes away.

2) I’ve never been to Europe. I’ve remedying this problem, however. Just sent in my registration to spend a semester studying abroad in Florence, Italy come February, March, and April of next year.

3) Growing up I raised (or helped raise) chickens, guinea pigs, many dogs, horses, bearded dragons, snakes, fish, hamsters, and birds. I’ve always held a strong affinity for living things in my heart.

4) I’m English, Irish, Scottish, Norwegian, Dutch, Swiss, French, German, and Blackfoot Indian. My Grandma has finished our genealogy in one line back through the Mayflower, to three royal kings (in 16th century Germany, England, and France), and onto Adam and Eve (if you’re using the Bible). Famous people I’m related to are Louisa May Alcott (my 6th cousin), Princess Diana, and “Buffalo” Bill Cody.

5) I once shot a rock with my slingshot through my Grandma’s double-pane dining room window, and went and hid in the cabin of her boat, crying for hours.

6) I start each day with a glass of lemon water, and then a hot shower.

7) Someday I want to learn how to play the bagpipes.

Now I challenge:

• Mandy Kilinskis
• Bojan Djordjevic
• Bruce Sallan
• Rachel Taylor
• Kenny Fabre
• Shouvik Mukherjee
• Jens Berget

Have fun!

I really don’t want you to do anything other than watch the video above.

I can’t possibly teach the message any better.

Now I’m off to make today count.
I’ll share the message by living it.

I often get fed up with reading post upon post, and not changing in the process. How do you make each day count? What do you do? What are you planning to do? Do you live in the past, or enjoy the present? I believe there’s no better way to teach a message than by actually living what you preach. It’s an inspiring way to live.

It’s 3am.

In five hours it will be time for me to wake up and get ready for double rehearsals, and two performances.

For the past couple weeks I’ve been rehearsing with my vocal studio for a Spring performance dubbed, Sing Inc’s Time Travel Spectacular. A Sing Inc. time machine tour guide (myself) sends a bevy of concert-ride goers back to the past for a series of singing escapades when a magic gold microphones compels ushers to sing & change the time line.

You’ll see the promo video above I acted in as the Time Machine Guide.

It’s been a few years since I’ve done any acting, but it was quite fun acting like an insane maniac. You might enjoy watching me make a fool of myself.

I’ll be writing another post soon to capture more details from the entire experience.

Now, I better get some sleep.

If you’re in the Roseville, California area, it’s not too late to join in on the fun. Performances are at 4pm and 7pm, April 17th (Saturday), and you can buy tickets at the door. More information can be found online at Sing Inc. Online.

Bojan is a young tech enthusiast, graduated Banker, who said NO to 9 to 5, took a risk and fired his boss in order to develop his business online. His blog Alpha Efficiency offers tons of free tech tips and mind hacks on how to get more done, save yourself some time and check it out. Get a hold of him on Twitter or Facebook.

My history with computers is pretty long.

It all started once my father came back home from the USA, where he assembled his first PC from various components.

He was a tech enthusiast, which made a permanent impact on my life and a choice of my career. I still remember we had a 2×86 PC, when I was two. We kept that computer until I was four.

I remember playing tetris on the computer, and games like Arkanoid.

To be honest, at the time I was never interested in Macintosh computers.

My father had and still has a belief that Macintosh computers are overpriced and don’t allow you the compatibility PC’s have.

I was following his belief system religiously, up until last year.

I was sold on Timothy Ferris idea of a remote workplace, and my PC laptop just didn’t cut it anymore with its battery life.

I was trying to find something that was more reliable in terms of battery life. I was going through forums and I saw that Mac laptops were best in that regard.

Another important factor was that I could install Windows on it.

I was really happy that I was buying a laptop that outlast myself. I opened it, straight in the store. I left my old laptop at home, so I started working right in the store where I bought it. At the time there was a pressing issue I had to deal with right away.

“Ok, this baby can run Chrome, I don’t have time to install Windows right now,” I thought to myself.

When I got home I was very busy and wasn’t thinking about Windows, and I wanted to see what the new operating system offered.

At that moment I was hooked for good. I never installed Windows later.

The design of the operating system prevailed.

I was amazed at how everything worked the way I wanted it to. Everything was pretty and flawless. Later that day, my friend showed me how to use Spaces and multi-touch gestures.

That’s when the bomb went off in my head, and I knew I didn’t have the need for Windows anymore.

Every time I looked at it at my desktop, I felt as if something was missing. What I had was better.

Now let’s be honest, there isn’t anything you can do on Mac, that you can’t do on PC. And vice versa. But on the other hand, whatever you do on a Mac is FASTER and smoother, than it is on the PC.

The look and feel that I get from Mac, tremendously impacts me and my working environment. The massive advantage of Mac users over any PC user is the relaxed feel that you get while using the machine. That’s what I feel.

When you are a creative individual, your working environment impacts your results.

And the very layout we see and operate in, determines the quality of the results that we put out!

Following the quality user experience from my conversion, I really enjoyed how well all Apple devices connected. I already owned a smartphone at that point, but I felt as if the integration between the devices was lacking. I had to find services that would make my phone work with other devices in my house.

Not to mention, in the months to come, I pulled the plug and got other Apple devices as well. The sync is art. Simple.

Apple has a content rich platform that works exceptionally well throughout all devices. iCloud to Apple is like the Holy Ghost to Christianity. It’s the invisible hand that causes all of your devices to work flawlessly together.

But in the end, beside all the flashy details, I think the biggest reason why I converted to Apple is the fact that it allows me to focus on work at hand, resulting in an insane increase of my productivity.

From a perspective of someone who was a PC user for entire of his life, I can safely say, that this is something better. If you are a creative individual who’s work involves one of the following areas…

• Writing
• Graphical design
• Audio Editing
• Video Editing
• and especially Blogger

…I can safely say, that a Mac is your perfect match.

Sun on Wall photo by Lozula of Finding the Universe.

I think it’s amazing that my garage door opens by itself. I mean, all I have to do is push a button and it magically lifts itself. No hoists, no pulleys, no rope. It’s sitting on a track and a motor filled to the brim with electricity does all the work for me.

No longer are small messages wired via telegram. I simply pick up a 2 inch by 4 inch iPhone, slam my fat fingers across a few buttons, and I’m instantly talking to my best friend who lives in Australia. Thousands of miles away. I’ve become so accustomed to the phenomena, in fact, I get upset and angry when I’m disconnected.

Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts. - William Gibson

If its a preference, there’s no need for a razor blade in the morning. Simply switch on the electric razor, and a man’s face is ready to go.

When I get a craving for warm bread, no fire needs stoking. The toaster does that work for me.

For much of my life, paper maps haven’t been necessary. We literally have tools floating in space helping accomplish that task for us. That’s right, I’m talking about satellites. GPS. Global positioning systems. They’re connected to my iPhone’s Map application, my in-car GPS, and often the car itself. All I do is tell Siri where I’d like to go, and she quickly provides the fastest route via step-by-step directions. It’s like magic. It is magic.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke

My food is kept at a perfect temperature in my freezer and refrigerator. Because of this incredible technology, I can eat whatever food whenever I want. Any time of the year. We don’t wait for seasons or the harvest any longer.

Microsoft Outlook destroyed the Rolodex.

Memories are stored for a lifetime because of technology. Digital cameras allow us to capture any event in life. In times past, one would have to sit for hours as a portrait was hand-drawn. Imagine going through such a process. Now it’s point and shoot.

We jet across entire oceans in a matter of hours, and find ways to be anxious about our jet-lag. Travel by airplane is possible. And not only do we travel by airplane, but we’ve even been to the moon. Thousands of miles away into space. Isn’t it incredible?

I can record my voice on an audio recorder smaller than the palm of my hand and upload for millions to hear.

I’m in awe of technology.

Are you grateful for technology? Are you in awe of its power and prowess? What are your favorite pieces of technology? Do you remember your life without certain pieces of technology? What piece of technology has been the most revolutionary in your life?

Everyone has their own success mantra.

But there are certainly better ones that will help you hit the jackpot sooner, rather than later.

You must have heard that there are plenty of people online today that make money online without leaving the comfort of their home.

If you ever wanted to make money online but could never get reliable tips from experts, here it goes.

It is never too late to learn the proper ways to make money online and get into this business.

There are several methods below that actually work, but what matters is how persistent you are.

Do not give up, like others who are frustrated and fed up from this venture.

Following are few ways that can really pull in a profit for you.

Drop Shipping

Out of all online money making methods drop shipping is the most lucrative and profitable option.

Suppliers, Distributors and Manufacturers give drop shipping services to those who can market their products and bring customers for their business.

You can utilize your marketing skills here and promote the website.

All that you need to do is manage a website and earn profit on products that you neither buy nor ship to your customers.

Before signing up to manufacturer or distributor, do your homework first.

If you can do it properly, it is a wonderful option to make money online.

Make money through eBay

You may not know, but it is true that eBay is still a primary source of income for numerous people.

They spend a few hours on eBay and earn handsome amounts from this source.

Initially most people offer household items (which can be anything they buy but not with the intention of selling ahead of time) through eBay stores and once the stock is cleared, they prefer to add products in their store display as the sales go up.

You can buy products in bulk quantities so that you can make more profit.

Manage your eBay store well and chances are, it will become your primary source of earning.

It’s very beneficial to have a specific niche of products you know well, and sell products pertaining to that niche.

Blogging

Blogging is not only an online money making option, but it is a wonderful option for those who truly wish to earn a name in online circle within a particular niche.

Writing and managing blog can be easy for those who are fond of reading and know how to write words well.

You cannot earn fame within a few days of blogging, but through constant effort you will become a known blogger.

Through this method, you can make some extra cash.

These are just few money making tips through which you will be able to make some extra cash without leaving the comfort of your home.

Lawrence Sykes was raised in one of the poorest areas of Manchester, England, and having left school with few qualifications, he is now a successful and trusted make money online and offline business owner, consultant and entrepreneur.  He also coaches private entrepreneurial clients running small localized businesses to multi-million pound international organizations.