The Lure Guide Center

Watching the Olympics last week really amazed me. The feats of strength were fantastic, and the drama of the events themselves was captivating. But what really made the biggest impact was being reminded of something we all know or have learned in the past, and yet rarely put into action for ourselves: the art of visualization.

Now, I’m not talking about some deep Buddhist trance. I’m talking more along the lines of visualizing in our minds the actions we wish to take, the things we’d like to have, or even the personal relationships we desire in clear detail, before they actually appear.

It simply dumbfounded me to realize that all of these athletes spent time visualizing in their minds their entire routine, race, or event before they began their quest. I could see it in their eyes, the way they were visualizing each step, every turn, before they took a deep breath and ventured out into history.

This is where I ask you: When was the last time you gave yourself that much attention in the way you perform your life’s tasks, or visualizing how you see your days in the future?

Could you imagine waking up each day with a clear focus on your desires?

Could you imagine the power you could give yourself by visualizing a goal and seeing it come to fruition in your mind’s eye?

So many people say to me, “I want to be happy, I want to be rich, I want that perfect relationship.” Yet, when pressed, rarely do these people have a clear picture of what that would be. Without a clear vision, what they want could be right in front of them the whole time, but how would they know?

So, I turn it over to you.

What do YOU want out of life? Use your imagination, and do a little “daydreaming,” so to speak, then write down the vision for your happiness and fulfillment.

Once you do, you’ll find that the picture you see for yourself isn’t so crazy after all, and with the right direction, all things really are possible.

Because great things materialize, once we start to visualize.

Best wishes, and Keep smilin’……

Gregory Scott Reid, The Millionaire Mentor,Inc.
#1 best-selling author, speaker, and Radio Personality.
Please sign up for my free monthly newsletters at http://www.AlwaysGood.com

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Goals are of vital importance in our lives. Many of us spend our lives without any definite purpose, simply drifting from place to place. Setting goals help us to focus our lives and to advance confidently in a definite direction. Without them, I don’t think our lives can truly be complete.

If you are looking for proof of the importance of goals, you need not look any farther than two pivotal studies on success and goal-setting, one completed by Yale University and the other by Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford University.

In the first study, Yale University kept track of their graduates during a 20 year period and found that the 3% who set goals were worth more financially than the entire 97% of the students who did not!

In the second study, Dr. Terman of Stanford conducted a study of 1,528 students all with IQ’s above the genius level. His study found that intelligence had nothing to do with success and financial acumen but that goal-setting did!

So now we know that goal-setting is vitally important to our success, but how do we do it? I first recommend that you take a day or two (longer if needed) to spend some time meditating about your passions in life. Start to make a list. Some wise men recommend that you try to write down 100 goals for your life. Lou Holtz, the tremendously successful football coach at Notre Dame and more recently at the University of South Carolina, said that while still in his teens he wrote down over 100 goals for his life (one of which was to coach a college football team to a National Championship - which he did). A few years ago at about the age of 60, Coach Holtz had achieved every single goal he had written down. So he had to write another 100 goals and I’m sure he’ll get those before long too!

I recommend that you try to write 100, write them out and break them out into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals. You can write your own definition of the time periods involved, but I would recommend that short-term is up to 5 years from now, mid-term is 5 to 15 years from now, and long-term is 15+ years.

Now that you have goals, you need to start taking advantage of them! This is where most would-be goal-setters fail. Anyone can write a goal, but I’d wager that if you asked 10 goal-setters what their short-term goals were after a week of setting those goals, that 9 out of 10 would not be able to answer!

You need goals in your life in order to achieve your dreams and have the success you desire. But just as important is a system for keeping your goals constantly in your mind.
We’re back to using affirmations and mind-imagery!

After you’ve written out your 100 goals, take all of them and write them in the form of 100 affirmations. Example, if your goal is to earn enough money to take your wife on a second honeymoon to the Caribbean, then you could write: “I am enjoying the company of my wife in the Caribbean sun by January 1, 2009 with the money that I gladly save and invest for my benefit!”

Then, follow the advice of Rod Moore of Self Management Systems who said: “Each morning, the first thing you should do is spend 5 - 10 minutes and invest it in programming your mind to go get the goals you have set for yourself. By doing so, you are imprinting or programming your mind each day to focus on what you want. By doing this consistently your sub-conscious mind will begin to manifest your desires into your life.”

What I’ve found works best for me is to review my short-term goals daily, and then once a week review the mid-term and long-term goals making adjustments as necessary to the term of specific goals. I find that this keeps me focused on achieving the goals with the shorter term without forgetting about the goals on the horizon.

I want you to be tremendously successful and I believe that you will be with the techniques and exercises that we’ve discussed. Be a goal-setter, but don’t just set them and walk away. Set them and follow them and achieve the success you deserve! Until next time!

To Your Success,
Joel S. Nelson

______________________________________________________________

Joel S. Nelson operates Harvest Mind Enterprises, an operation targeted to individuals interested in developing personally by harvesting the power of the subconscious mind. For more articles on the topic, go to http://www.harvestyourmind.com/newsletter.html

© 2005 Joel S. Nelson

Joel S. Nelson has spent years studying the power of the subconscious mind and the science behind success. He believes that growing up we were all taught the wrong things about success and personal achievement by our parents, in school, and on T.V. and that society perpetuates those misconceptions. Joel’s goal is to reverse the damage done by bringing the science of achievement to one million people by the year 2020.

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Nothing stops us. Well, almost nothing. Although we do live in a world that whirls at breakneck speed, there are a few things that will stop us in our tracks. When tragedy strikes, our attentions are diverted from our normal hustle and bustle to the turmoil at hand. The perfect example of this is, of course, the world’s reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the events following it.

As we witness catastrophic events unfold around us, our own mortality becomes evident. In reaction to this, we vow to devote more time to the “important things” in life and do less quibbling about the “small stuff”

Post any tragedy, we are thankful for life’s blessings. People often attend church services more, spend more time with their families and are just nicer to one another in general.

But Time changes everything and these newfound priorities have a way of being forgotten. It’s much easier to slip back into the comfort of our old habits that it is to face the harsh reality of life and our own mortality.

To effectively reach your goals, your drive and vision must come from within. When it comes from outside sources, it may be ineffective long-term. According to John Donoghue, performance psychologist coach, “Motivation is only a temporary emotive action which usually has no real lasting effort nor does it make permanent changes.”

In order to be truly successful in achieving goals, we must give ourselves a critical assessment and work to continually improve ourselves. “A person’s performance and behavior will always be consistent with the picture they hold of themselves, i.e. their ’self-image’,” says Donoghue.

And since nothing can improve our self-image like reaching goals, being successful can lead to more success. We are our own best coaches and motivators, and when the will to win comes from within, almost nothing can stop us.

In setting and striving for goals, there are many things we can do to help ensure success. One is to use the “SMARTER” approach to achieve your goals:

Specific: Is your goal specific enough to move toward?

Measurable: Is your goal tangible enough to measure?

Attainable: Is this goal possible for you at this point in time?

Relevant: Is your goal tied to what is most important?

Trackable: Can you chart your progress for this goal?

Elasticity: Are you and your goal flexible enough?

Rememberable: Will reaching your goal be a celebratory event?

Vera Haitayan, Principal Consultant of The Leadership Laboratory., a California-based employee development and process improvement consulting firm and is the senior editor of The Stepping Stone Newsletter featuring leadership and process improvement best practices.
http://www.1leadershiplab.com
mailto: vera@1leadershiplab.com

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It is important to have goals because they are good for your physical and mental health. You can have goals for all areas of your life. Here are a few ideas: Career, Learning, Clubs, Money,
Community, Politics, Contribution, Professional, Emotional, Reading, Family, Relationships, Health, Service, Home, Spiritual
Interests, Travel.

What Makes an Effective Goal?

Not all goals are motivating. If a goal is too vague, hard to measure, or impossible to achieve, it will lack effectiveness and ultimately be a wasted exercise. Goal statements should be:

• Stated with action verbs

• Specific

• Measurable

• Challenging

• Written down, with completion dates

Effective goals have all five ingredients.

The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule (also known as Pareto’s Principle) says that 20% of what we do produces 80% of the results.

Here are a few examples:

• 20% of the area in your house requires 80% of the cleaning.

• 20% of the stocks in an investor’s portfolio produce 80% of the results.

• 20% of the kids in a class cause 80% of the problems.

• 20% of the books in a bookstore account for 80% of the sales.

It’s important to remind yourself not to get bogged down on low-value activities, but to stay focused on the high-value 20%.

High-Payoff Planning

High-payoff (HIPO) time is the 20% that produces the desired results. Low-payoff (LOPO) time is the 80% that produces only 20% of the results. The challenge is to find the HIPO tasks and work on those first.

The HIPO strategies:

• Setting a deadline increases the chances that you will accomplish a task.

• Setting a specific time to do something increases the chances that you will accomplish it.

• Divide and conquer: Break a task into smaller pieces and it becomes easier to complete.

• Motivate yourself by listing the benefits of completing a task.

• Motivate yourself in another way by rewarding yourself for completing a task.
The LOPO strategies:

• Don’t do it at all.

• Do it later.

• Do it with minimum time investment or at a lower standard.

Think of your own life. Can you identify five high-payoff and five low-payoff targets and the activities that contribute directly to each?

Identifying and writing down these items increases the chances that they will be accomplished.

Force Field Analysis

For every goal that you set, there are conditions (forces) that encourage its completion. There are also conditions that discourage its completion.

The Force Field Analysis process helps you identify two kinds of forces: (1) the forces that are pushing with you as you work toward your goal (encouraging forces), and (2) the forces that are pushing against you (discouraging forces).

The process of force field analysis (developed by scientist Kurt Lewin) is based on a law of physics that says that when two equal but opposite forces push against one another, there is no movement.

Why is this important to a person working toward a goal? Because a similar dynamic can prevent you from achieving your goal.

The idea here is to avoid paralysis and encourage momentum by increasing positive (encouraging) forces and decreasing negative (discouraging) forces. For example:

Goal: Run in a marathon in 2002.

Discouraging forces:

• I haven’t exercised regularly for the past five years.

• I tend to start projects and then get bored quickly.

• I live in the Midwest and weather can be a problem.
Encouraging forces:

• I am in good health.

• My neighbor is a runner and has encouraged me to take up the sport.

• My family thinks this is a good idea.

After identifying as many encouraging as discouraging forces, you can map a strategy to build on your strengthsthe forces in your favorand reduce the barriers.

I encourage you to choose a goal of your own and make a list of the encouraging and discouraging forces. This will help you develop an action plan and increase your chances of success.

Your Action Plan

Once you have identified the forces that both favor and discourage the achievement of your goal, it’s time to make an action plan. Here is an example:

Force: I haven’t exercised regularly for the past five years.

Actions I can take:

1. Start slowly.

2. Map out a plan where I start with a 20-minute walk this Saturday morning.

3. Buy a running magazine.

4. Visit a few running web sites.

5. Straighten up the room where my exercise bike has been serving as a clothes rack. Clear away the junk and move a TV in to encourage me to use the bike every other morning.

Who can help me:

1. My neighbor, the runner.

2. My family members will encourage me. I well tell them that I need this.

3. The woman in the next cubicle started an exercise program last year.
Now it’s your turn. Just fill in the blanks.

Force:

Actions I can take:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Who can help me:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Garrett Coan is a professional therapist,coach and psychotherapist. His two Northern New Jersey office locations are accessible to individuals who reside in Bergen County, Essex County, Passaic County, Rockland County, and Manhattan. Garrett also offers online and telephone coaching and counseling services for those who live at a distance. He can be accessed through http://www.creativecounselors.com or at 201-303-4303.

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If you are anything like me, the end of the year might just
leave you a little disappointed that you could have achieved
more but didn’t.

With 2005 already on us when we look forward with great hope
and enthusiasm, we must also prepare for the end of the year
when we can look back with lot of satisfaction.

A year has begun with many new plans, resolutions and goals.
All these resolutions are made and implemented with a tremendous
resolve. But these resolutions slowly vanish in the rush of the
daily routines and pressures.

Here is a three step formula I have devised to achieve all that I set out to do.

Set goals

As they say, if we don’t know where we are going how would we get there. We have many intentions but no specific goals. The best way to convert all the good intentions to goals is to put them in writing. I know it is easier said than done. Where to start? How to write them out? What to add and what to leave out? It is always a lot of work to create all those pages of goals.

So I have created a workbook where all you need to do is simply
answer a few questions and follow directions and your lifetime goals are set. There are also some great tips, quotes and affirmations to build a daily routine. Of course you can make changes as frequently as you want. Try it out. All you need to do is send me an email at indiaventurelinks@yahoo.co.in with ‘Send Goals Builder’ in the subject
header.

Take action

Action is the second key. Don’t worry if you are not getting results. Every day action builds up into definite results though they may take some time to show visible results. There is also a lot of talk going on about taking massive action if you want to succeed. It is not the absolute truth. You can succeed with whatever action you can take.

Only be consistent about taking action. Small steps taken one after the other may yet take you to the Himalayas if only you keep walking albeit a bit slower..

Review Results

Just spend 10 minutes in the evening to review results. The habit of reviewing results achieved on a daily basis would help to initiate correctives where ever and whenever you go wrong or proportionate results are not achieved. The review also helps to take pride and pleasure in the progress made which would motivate you further towards your goals.

I Wish you a great and the most fruitful year of your life.

R.G. Srinivasan is founder of Born to Win Forum. He is a certified trainer and a small business consultant. He is also the author of e-books, publishes 2 ezines on success & motivation and Home Business.

Check out his small business resource site at http://venturelinks.tripod.com.

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Have you ever asked yourself why you want to succeed online?

If not, … allow me to ask you …

So, … why do you want to succeed online?

Do you have e reason for it? Do you clearly know what the reason is?

Do you think other people are succeeding online? Are they more successful than you are? Are you more successful than them? Why?

Are you currently succeeding online? Do you feel successful? How do YOU define success in general?

These questions are very important questions in your journey to online success. The nature of your answer to these questions would significantly impact your mission.

We all have a pre-programmed definition of success. We all know what will make us successful in other people’s eyes and what will personally make us feel successful. We have needs, wishes, wants and cravings for the results we desire.

But only you know what’s important for you and what would drive you to achieve your vision of success, whether online or offline. You’re the only one who can unlock the door to your hidden treasure of desires. Desires so powerful that would literally force you out of your comfort zone to find the success you seek.

What are you doing it for? What’s in it for you?

Few years back, I joined a network marketing company that was doing business the *old way* of calling people on the phone, setting a meeting and presenting the prospects with a business opportunity. That was one of my best experiences ever.

I had an opportunity to interact with hundreds of different people from different walks of life. Different educational background, different culture, different life circumstances, different age, different business background ….

The most amazing thing was that they all had a different vision of success. They all had a different understanding of what success was and what it meant to them.

While going through the course of offering the business opportunity, some of the people were telling me that they were doing just fine with their life as it was. Even though I was offering them a business opportunity that would’ve given them results far beyond their wildest dreams, they were declining the offer with a comment that they were already successful in what they were doing and they were not looking for more in their life.

Other people would tell me that they were already working on achieving the results that they were striving for. My business opportunity did not offer the types of results that they wanted to accomplish. And others would simply take the opportunity since they had no other vehicle to take them to their desired results.

In general, I did not meet two people with same aspirations. Everyone wanted to be successful in his or her own unique way — successful in regards to other people and successful in regards to themselves.

So, the question I would like to ask you is: “Why do you want to achieve online success and what are you doing it for?”

Is there something you desire to have as a result of you becoming successful online? It’s very important to define your desired outcome - crisp and clear - as a result of you becoming a successful online entrepreneur. That would become your map. That would give you a direction to follow.

What do you want to have and who do you want to become as a result of you becoming successful with your online venture?

By having that fact defined, your success journey would then consist of finding the right sources to get you there as opposed to jumping onto every train that passes by with a hope that one of them would take you to your success.

You could use your list of defined results that you want to accomplish as an evaluation method when looking at different business opportunities or products. Ask yourself, could the business opportunity or even a product under your consideration, deliver most or all of your desired results?

In today’s environment of ever changing technology and evolving life complexity, we don’t have much time in our hands. Do we?

The “time” is slowly but surely becoming one of the most valuable commodities. The fact of knowing what you want to accomplish with your online venture would help you grasp the success you seek in the shortest time possible and help you understand the purpose of your mission.

I go in great detail on this subject in my book “Define Your Success.”

© Steve Dimeck, webmaster and author.
His recently published ebook “The Success Maze” provides an “Apt solution” (in the words of Neil Shearing) for people who want to succeed online but feel a bit lost in the online “Maze.”
Free details at: http://www.thesuccessmaze.com

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I wonder if anyone really reads long stuff from Ezines except for the juicy and interesting ones but I am one of those few who painstakingly reads almost all articles posted. And now I’ve a got a turn to write something here. I had it in my mind to write something short and interesting to keep you on your toes yet, no matter how I long to keep this short, I just can’t. Unless if I’ll state what I have to say in bullet form. So let me have my hand at keeping you entertained if not informed with this article.

Created equally so to speak, endowed with the same capabilities all humans have. Yet at a change of an angle could significantly alter ones perspective.

Circumstances, with which we are in, are perceived by our wits as being good or bad. Yet, conditioning our brains to respond to a certain stimulus could also affect the way we see things.
Maybe the cliché that goes like “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a rule derived from the diversity of ones viewpoint. Yet pardon me, I’d rather not delve much into this saying but expound on another one more relevant.

I stumbled upon a quote one day which says:

“Your difficulty is not contained, primarily, in the situation which gave rise to it, but in the mental state with which you regard that situation and which you bring to bear upon it.” (Byways of Blessedness)

As children, our views of situations are simplified versions. No gray areas just a plain aye’s or naye’s will do. Life then was pretty much institutionalized and sanitized to fit the way we see things. I am a bit grateful for that. Alas! It was an insufficient training me for the future decision makings I have not seen coming along my way. I had the false bravado that I could tackle whatever may come my way, head on. Sadly, that was just it - false bravado.

I tended to see things in an uncomplicated way, had not allotted special amounts of thinking on crucial situations that needed my decisions but simply said yes or no right away. Although I can see myself as an intellectual, having relied on scholarships as my educational plan from elementary years ’till college and even sustained myself through living allowances which came as part of my scholarships, I can fairly say that I can be categorized as just one of the lucky few who passed the exams. Yet this alone have never guaranteed me a safe passage towards the realities of making decisions, of handling emotions, imperfections and failures.

I had a sheltered view of things. I often wondered if I’ll be more suited to the life of the rich and pampered. Or would I just continue to live with my parents. Then, I would not have to worry about anything but just leave the decision makings to my mother or whoever is in charge. Well, I opted to live by myself at the age of 20. Away from my parents and family and lived on my own money and confidently equipped with my bravado. No matter how false it was, I was determined to tackle everything head on without even pausing to think about potential disasters my actions would entail.

Now, after two years of living with the after effects of the detrimental decisions I have incurred during some of the not-so-good years and living with the idea of my imperfections, I can say that I am doing quite well. If were still a college student, I might have viewed myself as a mess and ended up despairing and possibly wasted all the remnants of what I have left.

Now, even if I can say that I am not yet the best person there is, I have changed and turned towards a better direction — Hopeful and delighted of the possibilities that will still be coming.

I owe this new outlook in life to the person who accepted me beyond my flaws and have seen me in a different light. His different view of me has changed the way I see myself. He has given me a new direction and a new attitude. Gone are the gray clouds at the end of my horizon and replaced with a new hope to rise and shine again. If there is one word I can describe this person is that he has been sent to be my angel here on earth and I will be forever thankful for that.

His reactions to my failures and mistakes have healed the hurt and grudge that I had for myself. He conditioned my thinking that I’ll never be perfect but can only aim to be. He has changed my mental and emotional perception of things, to aim towards perfection but humbly chastise myself if ever make one. He has taught me that imperfections are meant to be dealt with and accepted humbly and can only serve as a lesson and nothing more than that.

I am surprised that it could only take a different perspective and an unconditional acceptance to heal and erase the mistakes of the past or even of the present and to inspire a person to renew his/her mental state of distinguishing things and acting on it positively. I now benefit from the newfound knowledge that I could never change circumstances, may they be positive or negative. But I could always give it a little twist and make the negative, positive and the positive, a little bit more positive. I can now confidently say “It’s only a matter of positive thinking!”

Gina Marie Capatar is the head writer for Isnare Outsourcing Services and http://www.Isnare.com .She also does Technical Writing Jobs, Feature Article Writing and Content Writing Jobs. You may Contact her at gina@isnare.com

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You have just received a beautiful floral arrangement and are delighted! Who wouldn’t be? Flowers can immediately instill a feeling of warmth and appreciation. Every time you glance at them, you smile. Now, how can you lengthen the life of your flowers? If you adhere to the following tips, you can extend the life of your floral arrangement by 5 - 7 days. So get ready to be happier even longer.

Floral Arrangements

1. Make sure that you keep the vase adequately filled. If the solution becomes cloudy, replace it with a fresh solution. Use a flower food supplied by your florist, and mix it according to the directions.
2. If your arrangement is in a container with foam, keep the foam moist at all times.
3. Keep your floral arrangement out of direct sunlight.
4. Do not place the flowers near warm surfaces such as on a television set, near a heater or heat duct and away from lamps, stoves and fireplaces.
5. Keep flowers in a cool area with temperature range from 65 - 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep away from fans and open windows.

Loose or Fresh Cut Flowers

1. Remove all leaves that will be below the waterline.
2. Cut the stems on an angle about - 1 inch from the bottom using a sharp knife.
3. Fill the vase 2/3 full with clean, fresh water.
4. Add flower food according to the directions.
5. When arranging flowers, take care not to bend or break stalks and branches. If you do bend or break one, make sure that you remove the stem completely as it will draw energy from the rest of the flower.
6. As your flowers age, remove those that are drooping or dropping petals to keep your arrangement fresh looking.

Now, stand back and enjoy!

Are you looking to send flowers online? Look no further!
FlowerDeliveryIdeas.com is your source of floral and gift ideas appropriate for any occasion and every sentiment

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Don’t you hated when you start to do something in particular and all of the sudden you find yourself distracted once again doing something else, without finishing what you set out to do in the first place?

It happens to me all the time. I start the day focusing into one thing and then by the end of the day end up doing something completely different.

I think some people get bored doing one thing only, so we are easy to get side-tracked.

That’s why I decided to investigate more about Setting Goals. I found some great information and decided to setup a site to help others as well into Setting their Own goals and sticking to them until they have achieved them.

Here you will find some usefull tips for getting your goals into shape and achieved.

The key to successful goal setting is your ability to motivate yourself and stay motivated until you have achieved your goals.

Stay focused…it is extremely important to take your goals seriously and you will achieve any goals you set your mind to do.

First, let’s take a look at what motivation really is.

Motivation is not a product of outside influence; it is a natural product of your desire to achieve something and your belief that you are capable of doing it

Positive goals that are geared toward your pleasure are much more powerful motivators than negative ones that are based on fear. The right combination of both is the most powerful and motivating mix.

Now let’s look at what you can actually do to motivate yourself and stay that way.

1. Start with visualizing your future success and model the feelings you’ll experience when you achieve it

2. Mentally walk the path towards this success and base your feelings at different milestones on the way

3. Assign a high priority to each task that you must achieve which will give each task a priority in your mind

4. Set a target for the amount of work you will do each day toward your goals

5. Visualize the desired outcome: Create a picture of what the desired outcome will look like, and have this vision in your mind at all times

6. Set milestones of the things you like to do and the things that you are good at

7. Use visual indicators to monitor progress and complete the task

8. Give yourself affirmations to remind yourself of how capable you are at reaching your goals

9. Watch movies that motivate you

10. Listen to music that motivates you

11. If you work better with competition, make a deal with a friend or family member to compete for the goal for example who gets there first! It can be hypothetical and doesn’t necessarily have to be for real

12. Get help and support from people around you or from a professional in the field for example a personal trainer, finance manager etc.

13. Define your own version of success, don’t let others define success for you

14. Ignore any negative influences or responses to your efforts

15. Make a conscious effort to do better than you have ever done in the past

16. Focus on the positive achievements and not the negatives

17. Share your successes with others as this will keep you focused and help you voice your accomplishments which will realize your achievements for you

18. Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses and work onthem both

19. Train yourself to finish what you start by refusing toquit until you are done

20. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and don’t punishyourself for making them Express your goals in a positiveway. That is a key component to setting goals that you canattain.

Express your goals in a positive way. That is a key component to setting goals that you can attain.

For more information about Goal Setting, visit us at:
Howto-Help-Guides.com/goalsetting
Edna Melendez is a stay-at-home mother researching and putting together information that will help people improve their lifestyle.

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I’ve cruised dozens of ships on various lines and in my opinion this is as good as it gets on a mega-liner of 2200+ passengers with 920 crew. Costa’s Atlantica was a floating palace of art deco furnishings, marble inlaid floors and millions of dollars invested in original works of art. It exceeded my expectations. Also I normally loose weight on cruises shunning the ships artificial fare. This time I over indulged on varied menus of fresh food. I ate enough prosciutto and ice cream to last a decade. The Italian accented cuisine was prepared by Euro-chefs and culinary graduates of the world famous Chaine des Rotisseurs.

We had an awesome group of 60 who blended harmoniously. No love connections occurred (that I know of), but friendships developed as we bonded on our AFS private shore excursions and parties onboard. This group was blessed throughout with the best weather the Baltic region could ever provide - 68 daily and no rain. The First Officer said “this was the best weather of the summer.”

Each country visited was a lesson in culture and history. We saw an eyeful along our 1987 nautical miles. In Copenhagen Denmark - with it’s Mermaid, Stockholm Sweden - the archipelago referred to as “Venice of the North”, Helsinki Finland - so friendly, modern and clean, Grand St. Petersburg Russia where we squeezed in a full power tour of the Hermitage, palaces, onion domed churches, canals and an evening ballet. Our final port was charming Tallinn Estonia where the entire walled Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was like walking through a fairytale.

For our days at sea there was never a dull moment with 3 pools, shops, casino, luxurious spa and contests with the crew. The 2 story gym was so high tech that I didn’t know how to turn on the equipment, so the only exercise I got was jumping to conclusions. The midnight buffets were the most magnificent I’ve ever witnessed with countless ice sculptures. There was a house baked out of bread and piano shaped from white chocolate.

On our last night we attempted to pack all our trinkets collected: faberge egg, Russian nesting dolls, Swedish crystal, Finish glassware, Nordic pewter, lingonberry jams, amber jewelry, hand knit sweaters and a million T-shirts. Many things such as our fur hats may end up in a garage sale some day, but the bargaining sure was fun.

We tasted just an appetizer of this 5 country smorgasbord but leave perfectly satisfied. As I say Bon Voyage to this unique part of this world, I am able to remiss another journey well done.

Suzy Davis www.adventuresforsingles.com
Adventures For Singles Inc.
800-813-9421 or GA. 770-432-8225

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