How do you know when to say yes...or no?

Well, it’s official – I’ve entered into more than one retail store over the past few days to find it transformed into a Christmas wonderland, complete with music, new staff uniforms, and a spirit of joy that doesn’t seem to come at any other time of the year.

But wait a minute…

Didn’t we JUST have Halloween?

I suppose it’s inevitable that the stores are always going to seem to start Christmas earlier every year – particularly this year when they’re so eager to get a jump over the somewhat dismal performance of recent economic downturn.

As much as I enjoy the early holiday spirit, I notice that it always seems to call for an increase of targeted advertising – particularly relating to children. One of the areas I’ve seen this most is among the mobile phone companies, who seem to be targeting younger and younger audiences all the time.

While these ad campaigns used to have a clear target of mostly teens and twenty-something’s, they’ve now shifted over to the ‘tween’ sector. The actors in the ads are younger – there’s even one ad that has a tween asking her dad if he signed her up for a calling plan yet. In another, the entire family is in the car with both kids in the backseat – the younger one is texting while the teen is arguing with her mom about expired minutes!

Last year, my daughter began to ask for her own mobile phone.  Her asking became begging, and her begging became desperate acts of pleading and yearning. But throughout all this desperate pleading, she could not actually tell me why she wanted a mobile phone – other than repeating, “Everyone has one – and they are cool!”

The truth was, there wasn’t really a need for her to have a cell phone. She is on a closed campus during the day for school, and has access to the office telephone should she need to contact me. When not at school, she’s with me. Despite her arguments of, “Other people in my class have one mom – it’s just not fair!” she did not get a mobile telephone. I did not feel in alignment with giving her a mobile phone, so she did not get one.

Even more importantly than my alignment with her having one, it was very clear to me that she was really not in alignment with having one. She could not give me any real reason that she wanted one, other than everyone else has one, and they are cool

It can be such a difficult struggle when your child asks you for things like this. It can feel like you’re asking your child to earn his or her wellbeing. It can feel like ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’.

But it doesn’t have to feel like any of that. Read more

How Are You Viewing Your World?

Guest Post By: Ruth Hegarty

As I meander through my days I talk to a lot of people, and I often hear how hard things/life/etc. are, especially around this time of year as the holiday bustle approaches. It seems as if life can sometimes feel like one big chore and that the holidays, which are supposed to be restful and joyful, are just a whirl of hassle and disappointed expectations.

Now, I love taking it easy and I love the holidays, and I have spent many years working with the issue of why some people find it so challenging to take it easy. So, as my gift to you today, I’m not only going to ask the question: “Why is taking it easy so hard?” I’m also going to give you the answer (just to prove how easy I love to make things!).

First, let’s make it clear that the reason so many people find it hard to take it easy isn’t what you think it is. It has nothing to do with not having enough time, having too many responsibilities, other people’s demands, or any of the other excuses that are so popular.

The real reason why you find it hard to take it easy is because (drum roll, please) you THINK it MUST be HARD. Seriously, that is the ONLY reason life feels hard. When you choose to believe that life has to be hard because that’s just the way it is, then you are deliberately (even if maybe unconsciously) creating the experience of difficulty in your life.

In order to take it easy in your life, you simply need to come from a place where you believe it’s possible. Now, I know it isn’t always comfortable to change, which is the main reason we get caught up in staying in situations that don’t feel good. However, I promise you that deliberately creating a life that you love is more than worth the initial discomfort.

There is always – ALWAYS – a way to do something that feels good and doesn’t feel like work.

The key to remember is that even actual work doesn’t have to feel like work. That is what ease and effortlessness are all about. It’s a mindset that orients you toward looking for a better way to get things done.

This mindset come through anything from hiring someone else to do things for you, finding the simplest and most comfortable strategy for getting things done, or deciding that it doesn’t even need to happen (this one is great for anything you think you “should” do.) You can delegate tasks to staff, family, etc. You can also delegate tasks to technology. This is one of the ways I get so much done myself – I take a little time to automate my systems, and then they pretty much run themselves.

Ease can mean different things to different people. It doesn’t mean lazy, though it can include lying around. Ease can include lots of activity so long as it feels great to you and feels effortless. All of the behaviors of ease follow naturally after you create the mindset. Read more

Molly Kite Has Faith

As a spiritual parenting coach, it’s always exciting to me to join with others who are so on board with the idea that kids can be brought up in full understanding of universal principles like the Laws of Attraction, freeing them in so many ways to grow up in the knowing of the birthright that each and every one of us were born with.

That’s why I am thrilled to share this with you today – my colleague, Tam Veilleaux, has written a children’s book I know you’ll love! She’s experienced the same vision that Law of Attraction for kids is really needed in this world, and the first Molly Kite & Co. book (written with that very intention in mind) is now available to you.

You can visit here today to pre-order your copy of the online interactive book, the paperback, or both!

Molly Kite Has Faith, written by Tam Veilleaux and illustrated by Russ Cox, is a fun and interactive story that will help bring your kids right into understanding of how to recognize unspoken energies at a young age – something that will assist them in getting into the flow of life always.

As the story goes, when Molly Kite dreams of being a potter but doesn’t know the first thing about forming clay, she decides there is only one thing she can do. Learn how seven year old Molly Kite and her constant companion, Faith, use Law of Attraction to achieve Molly’s dream in short time.

Universal Law affects each of us every day, whether we believe it or not. In this very knowing, Molly Kite is a leader for today’s youth. She is someone your children can emulate. Respectful and happy, the freckled face main character is someone you’d be proud to call your own.

Join free-spirited seven year old Molly Kite, brother Banjo, pet raven Johnny Poe, Nana Whacky and other characters as she expands her consciousness through her daily routines. Molly Kite and a cast of fun, insightful characters (including her ever-present doll, Faith) will introduce Universal themes like:

• What goes around comes around
• What you think about expands
• What you resists persists
• The power & importance of being in nature
• And many more!

Watch as your child learns the personal power of directing their thoughts and having faith.

Available October 11 as an interactive book and as a paperback, the Molly Kite & Co. team is now taking pre-orders, which means you can be among the first to own a copy of Molly Kite Has Faith.

The holidays are right around the corner; pick one up as a gift for someone special. Not only will your child benefit, but so do you, the caregiver! Choose from as many as ten different FREE BONUSES offered by friends of Molly Kite. Ebooks, audios and special reports on a variety of topics are yours at no cost when you order Molly Kite Has Faith.

Our future is a bright place when left in the hands of enlightened kids! Go now, get your copy!

Sale Prices: Online book $12.99, Paperback book $12.99, or BOTH for $21.99