The Refresh Orlando Heirs

If your budget is limited and you need a full features Office suite, we know of one that has got everything you might conceivably need. The deeper question, is whether anyone will ever need all of these features. It’s nice to know that a FREE Office Suite of applications has probably more to it than you will actually need or use. The Office Suite is called Open Office. It is a free open source office suite that is taking on Microsoft Office head to head. It is dubbed the “Microsoft Office Clone” as it will let you read, print, write, edit and save in all the native Microsoft Office formats! Can you imagine?

Some say about Microsoft Office, “who would ever need all that stuff”. It may be true that one person could never use everything that is included in today’s modern Office Suite applications. What is not common is to get all of them for free! People it seems would be more inclined to pay $399 for Microsoft Office Professional because it does have everything, including all the “stuff” you may never use. Does that really make it worth $399? I don’t think so, as does not several thousand of other users and business alike. Even such big business as:

Boeing

Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI)

Sun Microsystems

The Australian Phone Company

The U.S. Department of Defense

The entire municipal government for the city of Munich (Germany)

That is nothing to sneeze at. When the big corporate giants start leaving Microsoft Office for an Open Source, Microsoft Office Clone you have got to know that this Office Suite is no Joke. It also begs to be asked why are we paying $399 and for paid upgrade after upgrade? There is no longer any need to do so; it is now only a choice. When I let people know about Open Office people have two reactions, absolute joy or utter disbelief. It is hard to come to grips in today’s consumer driven world that there is free solutions out there that meet in some aspects exceed the paid for solutions. For more information simply go to Google and type in OPEN2XL.

There also is the segment of computer users, even small business that have had to resort to using multiple installations of a single copy. Most people just cannot afford to pay all that dough for the tools that they need and honestly see any other way.

Open Office (The Free Microsoft Office Clone) is helping many people and small businesses to be liberated from their (illegal copies) of Microsoft Office. Since The free Microsoft Office clone can read, print, write, edit and save in native Microsoft office formats there is no need to keep illegally copied office suites on computers any longer. It is hard for one to not have Microsoft office when at the time of this writing 90% of word possessing is done on Microsoft Office and one needs it to read, print, write, edit, and save in Microsoft Office formats. Not being able to accept Word Documents or Excel files is tough in deed, especially if you are a small businesses! With Open Office the Free Microsoft Office Clone you do not need Microsoft Office (legal or otherwise) to be able to receive and create Word, Excel, Power Point, and Front Page documents.

What more can I say?

I think I will close this article with this question: Why would you keep on paying hundreds of Dollars for Microsoft Office when you can get a free Microsoft Office Clone?

About The Author

J. McILwraith is an IT professional who has been in the field since 1994. Along with his private corporate consulting he currently distributes Open Office the “Free Microsoft Office Clone” via his web site OPEN2XL ( http://www.open2xl.net and http://www.microsoft-office.us )

Our society seems to be on a mission to possess as much and as many as possible in their life experience. It seems as if many individuals are in the process of accumulating wealth, success, relationships, recognition, material goods, social status, and control, hanging on for dear life because they believe this will bring them happiness.

Anything you hang onto is simply an attachment, and an attachment depicts bondage. In bondage you are not free to express as the person you are because you are living under the control of someone else. If you allow someone or something to control your life you have given away your power and are literally seeing life through another person’s eyes. Or perhaps you’re the controlling person, doing your best to manipulate the lives of others so things go the way you decide they should go.

People think that control signifies power. After all, you understand fully the power that a policeman has over you if you’re stopped for speeding. That is external power and is forced due to chain of command, age, money or status. You look at these individuals as powerful because they can control certain aspects of your life, but this is only on the physical plane.

Your true power and freedom comes from surrendering your will to God. Surrender to most people spells weakness, but actually an individual who totally lets go finds a source of power within themselves they had forgotten. Letting go of planned outcomes and attempting to manipulate the details as you see fit frees you up for the good to come to you.

Stop a moment and think of a circumstance in which you loosened your grip and a miracle occurred, one you could have never planned yourself. Here’s an example. A woman who had been widowed with two children had wanted to teach children, write books and be with her own children more. But, as the sole caretaker of her two children she remained in a job that took a lot out of her but gave her a very nice income - security for her family. She wasn’t enjoying the work any longer but was afraid to try anything else.

She began having one physical problem after another with multiple surgeries in a short time frame. The job was too taxing and she knew it wasn’t good for her. She decided to leave that company and began searching for something similar but with better job assets. In her heart she was feeling this would be a good time to move forward with what she really wanted to do but fear popped in once again and she went for the “secure” job. Only a few weeks into the new position she knew it wasn’t going to work. Finally, she surrendered her will and let go so God could take over. Having stepped out of the way, letting go of her grip on how she was attempting to control things, doors began opening in so many new directions. Within a few weeks of letting go she was on her way to a new life that would give her all her heart’s true desire: more time with her children, teaching and directing children, and writing books.

What caused this dramatic chain of events to happen? It began in her thoughts. Our thoughts are energy and create every experience in our lives. If we don’t like out life as it presently is we have the power to change it completely. Energy once formed can never be destroyed and if fear rules our thoughts we connect with more fear and continually bring fear-driven situations into our lives. When we let go of the fear, surrendering to the higher purpose of our life, we not only grab back our power but allow the right and perfect things to flow to us.

This woman changed her perception of how she thought things should be. She surrendered her will, letting go of the attachment to every detail of her life and her financial security. When she loosened her grip and closed the door on something she knew was no longer in her best interest, she opened up new opportunities that will not only bring her a good income, but will also fulfill her higher divine purpose.
She could have remained where she was for we always have the power of choice, but she listened to her spirit and got out of the way. She is now free, the chains of attachment are gone, and she is doing something she loves. The miracles that have been gracing her life are beyond anything she could have imagined.

That’s how it is when we loosen our grip and allow life to flow. You try so hard to hold on to a relationship that doesn’t serve because it feels scary to leave. You remain in jobs you dislike because you’re afraid there might not be anything better for you. Those beliefs that say it must be a certain way may be the prison door that is blocking your life.

So ask yourself right now, what am you holding onto that is not raising you to a higher level? A relationship? A job? An old belief? Self-incrimination? Security? All of these are an illusion that the ego provides so that you believe you need this. Need always tells the story of wanting more because it seems there’s not enough. This keeps you from moving forward as you remain under the thumb of your ego. I invite you to loosen your grip and let it go. Then, and only then, can the new, exciting, life-enhancing possibility appear at your doorstep. Open the door and let it in!

Carolyn Porter, D. Div., is an inspirational speaker,author of multiple books, ebooks and audios, spiritual wholeness coach, trainer for speaking, and energy facilitator, whose passion is to help idnviduals move beyond their limiting beliefs and become who they are meant to be.

Despite a widening account deficit, the US seems to steam ahead of its other western counterparts. Why is it that Americans are spending more than ever, even in times of an unpredictable future? A worsening income inequality does not seem to have too much impact on the overall perception of the American dream. Why is it that on the one hand, America has some of the best universities and research facilities in the world, and on the other hand, poor children do not have access to health care? Do they believe that their economy is purely better than everyone else’s?

The US is using two-thirds of the global access savings to support their deficit, mostly from their European and Asian counterparts. If it would be true that only Americans believe they are special, then why does everyone else also want to buy in and be part of the phenomenon. As long as the US is able to borrow huge sums at low rates, the ride will not come to an abrupt end. And everyone complaining about the never-ending spending sprees of the average US citizens should take a closer look at who is financing these activities, and probably you will find out that you are yourself part of the source fueling this behavior.

So as long as you think your money is safe and wisely invested in the US, their economy will continue to grow at a faster pace then anyone would imagine. Remember; don’t complain if deep down you also believe the US is good for it.

Peter Kopitz is currently living in Bangkok, Thailand after graduating with Honors from the University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business with a Masters Degree in Business Administration. He is actively involved in researching economic and political development in Thailand, focusing primarily on property development, security analysis and investment banking. Online Mortgage Advice | Honolulu Realtor | Hawaii Rentals

The Worst Case Scenario

Your subscriptions to your favorite anti-virus and spyware software expired 28 days ago. You have been meaning to pull out your credit card and renew. However, you just haven’t gotten to it.

Yesterday an e-mail, SPAM really, hit your inbox with an interesting by-line on the latest natural disaster. You click on the innocuous looking link. The next thing you know, Internet Explorer doesn’t quite work correctly, followed by a failure of Windows Explorer, followed by your PC running really slow. You have just been hit with spyware! Next thing you know, your PC will not boot and you are dead in the water.

This Whole Scenario is Preventable

In this example (which is played out dozens of times every day) the user did not keep his/her software counter measures up to date. There are some extremely top shelf software products available which do a simply wonderful job of keeping up with the latest spyware and virus threats. In fact, by employing several similar products you can often catch threats with one product which was not neutralized by another.

However, there are no guarantees here! A variety of circumstances may result in a threat to your PC. Depending solely on software counter measures (e.g. anti-spyware, anti-virus software) is only part of the story. You can actually take your destiny and digital protection in your own hands and add another layer of protection.

Software Backup- Your Own Version of Digital Time Travel

The two approaches available are:

A root kit is a set of tools used by an intruder after cracking a computer system. These tools can help the attacker maintain his or her access to the system and use it for malicious purposes. Root kits exist for a variety of operating systems such as Linux, Solaris, and versions of Microsoft Windows.

The term “root kit” (also written as “rootkit”) originally referred to a set of recompiled Unix tools such as “ps”, “netstat”, “w” and “passwd” that would carefully hide any trace of the cracker that those commands would normally display, thus allowing the crackers to maintain “root” on the system without the system administrator even seeing them.

Generally now the term is not restricted to Unix based operating systems, as tools that perform a similar set of tasks now exist for non-Unix operating systems such as Microsoft Windows (even though such operating systems may not have a “root” account). It is common for the term ‘rootkit’ to refer to a “kernel-mode” program (that is, acting as part of the operating system), as opposed to a “user-mode” program (that is, programs that operate as normal applications or tools).

The key distinction between a computer virus and a root kit relates to propagation. Like a root kit a computer virus modifies core software components of the system, inserting code which attempts to hide the “infection” and provides some additional feature or service to the attacker (the “payload” of a virus).

In the case of the root kit the payload may attempt to maintain the integrity of the root kit (the compromise to the system) — for example every time one runs the root kit’s ps command it may check the copies of init and inetd on the system to ensure that they are still compromised, and “re-infecting” them as necessary. The rest of the payload is there to ensure that the cracker (attacker) can continue to control the system. This generally involves having backdoors in the form of hard-coded username/password pairs, hidden command-line switches or magic environment variable settings which subvert the normal access control policies of the uncompromised versions of the programs. Some root kits may add port knocking checks to existing network daemons (services) such as inetd or the sshd

A computer virus can have any sort of payload. However, the computer virus also attempts to spread to other systems. In general a root kit limits itself to maintaining control of one system.

A program or suite of programs that attempts to automatically scan a network for vulnerable systems and to automatically exploit those vulnerabilities and compromise those systems is referred to as a computer worm. Other forms of computer worms work more passively, sniffing for usernames and passwords and using those to compromise accounts, installing copies of themselves into each such account (and usually relaying the compromise account information back to the cracker/attacker through some sort of covert channel).

Of course there are hybrids. A worm can install a root kit, and a root kit might include copies of one or more worms, packet sniffers or port scanners. Also many of the e-mail worms to which MS Windows platforms are uniquely vulnerable are commonly referred to as “viruses.” So all of these terms have somewhat overlapping usage and can be easily conflated.

A number of new rootkit detection tools have been created including Blacklight (windows), rkhunter (unix/linux).

Ken Savage is a Webmaster who writes about what is going on in the Tech industry usually days before it breaks to the rest of the world. He can be found at http://www.kensavage.com.
He’s also a leading writer within the technology aspects of Diabetes on http://www.battlediabetes.com.

A barcode is a machine-readable representation of information in a visual format on a surface. Barcode is widely used to implement Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC) systems that improve the speed and accuracy of computer data entry.

A barcode printer is a computer peripheral for printing barcode labels or tags that can be attached to physical objects. Barcode printers are commonly used to label cartons before shipment, or to label retail items with Universal Product Codes.

Desktop barcode printer has become a commonplace tool for entering product information at retail chains and shopping complexes. Industrial barcode printers are used in manufacturing facilities and large warehouses helping in inventory management and sales process automation.

The most common barcode standards are UPCs and EANs.

Universal Product Code Bar Code - The standard bar code printed on retail merchandise. It contains the vendor’s identification number and the product number which is read by passing the bar code over a scanner.

European Article Numbering is the European standard for barcodes. There are two different versions of EAN bar codes, EAN-13 and EAN-8, which encode 13- and 8-digit numbers, respectively. A special EAN-13 bar code with a 5-digit supplemental code is used on books to encode the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and the price. This bar code is called “Bookland”.

Traditional one-dimensional bar codes use the bar’s width to encode a product or an account number. Two-dimensional bar codes, such as PDF417, MaxiCode and DataMatrix, are scanned horizontally and vertically and hold considerably more data. PDF417 is widely used for general purposes. MaxiCode is used for high-speed sorting, and DataMatrix is used for marking small parts.

Barcode Printers employ two major printing methods – Direct Thermal (DT) and Thermal Transfer (TT).

Direct thermal printers use a print head to generate heat that causes a chemical reaction in specially designed paper that turns the paper black. Direct thermal printers are generally less expensive, but they produce labels that can become illegible if exposed to heat, direct sunlight, or chemical vapors. Barcode printers require regular cleaning of the ribbon and the print head. Specks of dust may cause distortion of the bar codes. The outputs of these printers using ANSI software need to be continuously checked in order to check for system malfunctions.

Thermal transfer printers also use heat, but instead of acting directly on the paper, the heat melts a waxy or resin substance on a ribbon that runs over the label or tag material. The heat transfers ink from the ribbon to the paper. Thermal Transfer requires the use of a heated ribbon to produce long-lasting images of data onto a label and/or tag, whereas Direct Thermal process prints the image directly on the label/tag.

Direct thermal and thermal transfer barcode printers can print bar code labels on variety of media. The range of bar code printers vary from light duty printers to rugged and high speed industrial printers for meeting diverse requirements. In industrial printers, the range varies from medium to heavy duty to extra heavy duty printers. These printers can be integrated to existing applications / ERP for on demand label/tag printing.

Industrial barcode printers are used in large warehouses and manufacturing facilities. They have large paper capacities, operate faster and have a longer service life. For retail and office environments, desktop barcode printers are most common.

Point of sale components provides the great collection of all your retail and inventory management needs. Whether you’re looking for barcode printers and decoders, bar code labels, bar code label printers, bar code label software, bar code labels or barcode scanners, we have it.

If there were such things as fairy godmothers and wishes that were granted magically, then maybe, just maybe, life would be different. So pretend for a minute or two that you live in a world of wishes and fairies and you have been told that you can have one wish granted – but this wish has conditions.

Your wish has to be for a change in what you do for a living. You will be given three times the income you have now (index-linked naturally), you will be given any money you need to spend in order for your new livelihood to be effective for you, so your new salary will not be reduced by business-related expenses. You cannot fail in whatever you choose to do. Any skills or knowledge you require will be yours for the asking. Any fears or anxieties – such as public speaking, or flying – will disappear. Everything in fact will be just as you wish it to be.

So what would you choose to do?

This wish is only valid for 24 hours.

I have some questions for you (and if you’d like to take this seriously and e-mail me the answers that would be great. Let me know also if it’s okay to use what you tell me, without identifying you as the source, in future articles or books. E-mail address on my web site)

1. Would you take up this offer, or would you let it expire?
2. What is it that you do right now for a living?
3. What would you choose to do?
4. What stops you from doing that right now?
5. How old are you?
6. Are you male or female?
7. Whereabouts do you live? (not your address, just the part of the world)
8. Did you enjoy this exercise?

Now I hope you’ve answered the questions before continuing to read.

Unfortunately, it seems, we don’t live in a world of fairies and wishes. But it’s nice to dream, it’s nice to have a rich fantasy world. Did you know that the inventor of the automatic sewing machine, Elias Howe, couldn’t find a way to make a machine sew until he had a dream about being attacked by savages with spears with holes in the tip? When he awoke from this dream he realised that this was what would make his ‘dream’ work and he put the hole for the thread in the tip of the needle rather than the other end where it usually was.

He wanted to do something that others said was impossible. He wanted to do something that he couldn’t find a way to do. But his desire didn’t accept the impossibility and it communicated a solution that consciously he couldn’t see.

His solution magically arrived because he was totally focused on what he desired to achieve.

If we focus our Power things happen magically.

It’s nice to let your mind wander about all the wonderful things, and people, you’d like to have in your life, the home you desire, the family, the friends, the lover… but there’s something a little scary about fantasising and then have that fantasy realised within hours of imagining it.

Our power scares us.

Marianne Williamson, author of Return to Love, says ” Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It’s our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

Because our Power scares us we keep it at arms length. We defend ourselves against having exactly what we want. And we do it to keep ourselves safe, and we do it to make sure other people continue to like us.

How do you feel about people who have everything they want in life and whenever they want anything new it just sort of appears? If you aren’t aware of anyone who has a life like that, seriously imagine it, then look at your life and see if you’re ok, or you feel some emotional reaction like jealousy, or dislike, or sadness, or even a feeling that good fortune is for others, but not for you.

You aren’t doing what fulfils you because you don’t believe you deserve it. And I don’t mean believe it at a superficial level, I mean believe it deep down right to the very bottom of your subconscious experience of your world. Someone somewhere will have caused you to believe that you don’t deserve, or that it isn’t ok, to have whatever your heart desires. You may have been taught that life is tough, not easy. You may have been taught that money doesn’t grow on trees. You may have been taught that to have everything you want makes you greedy or selfish or unlovable.

None of that is true.

It’s time to recognise the untruths you were taught about you and your world for what they are – the mistaken perceptions of those who were fearful of coming face to face with their own beauty; that is, the beauty of one who was born to love and to enjoy life and to feel fulfilled.

That person was YOU.

Michael J. Hadfield MBSCH is a registered clinical hypnotherapist. You can experience his unique style on a popular range of hypnosis CD’s and tapes at http://www.hypnosisiseasy.com Here you can also obtain treatment for a variety of problems and explore his approach to health, healing, and hypnosis.

iPods are a great invention, however many have complained about the lack of playtime and poor battery life. Previously, replacing an iPod battery was next to impossible. So when your battery dies, its time for a new iPod. This of course proved to be extremely expensive. As a result, manufacturers have begun producing aftermarket iPOD batteries for a DIY conscious producer. There are even high capacity batteries that will basically give you more playtime on your iPod in comparison to the original iPod batteries. An even better incentive to replace that dying battery!

I know what you’re thinking, you don’t want to rip apart that shiny iPod of yours! Aftermarket iPod batteries were designed to make the installation as simple as possible (it wasn’t really all that difficult to begin with anyway). Since the batteries installation doesn’t require any soldering, the most difficult part is opening up the physical case. Since the iPod doesn’t contain any screws, the casing must be pried off in order to access the internal battery. I do not recommend using a screwdriver to do this as it will damage the case. A guitar pick has been recommended to do the job, but even better, some batteries come with the non scratch nylon tools required to open your iPod safely.

Below are some instructions on how to install your battery. I am aware that there are more than one

Steps to install the battery:

• Lay your iPod on a piece of cloth o non scratch surface. Using your non scratch tools, slowly insert it under the cover and begin to pry off the cover. You should hear it begin to open. Work your way by sliding the tool all around the edges.

• The iPod is basically made of two halves. With both halves separated, put the empty shell aside.

• The other half will have all the internal components in there. You should be able to spot the battery in there. You will see that the battery is connected to the main circuit board of your iPod. Carefully unplug the old battery by pulling on the end of the connector.

• Get your new battery and plug in into the connector socket on your iPod’s circuit board. The connector will only go in one way so do make sure you insert it the right way up.

• Once it’s all connected up, put the cover back on by pressing the edges of the two halves together.

• Plug your charger in and let your new iPod charge up for at least 4 hours. All new batteries should get a longer than normal charge the first time around.

• Now you’re ready to enjoy your music once more!

· MAC (Mandatory Access Control)
· DAC (Discretionary Access Control)
· RBAC (Role Based Access Control)

To understand MAC, DAC and RBAC you must first understand Access Control.

Access Control is the control of user and process control access to network and operating system resources. For example, many spyware and adware applications not only download themselves on to your computer without your permission, but they also help themselves to your systems CPU, hard drive and memory. What happens to most of us is that we get hit with 10 or 15 of these applications by accessing the Internet without protection. Imagine 10 to 15 badly written memory hogs using your CPU and memory to access your cached references to your web surfing habits (or worse credit card, ssn) and send that potentially valuable information to some server in Nigeria or Russia.

Mandatory Access Control (MAC)

Mandatory Access Control is military grade security. Like DAC, it has been around since the 60’s. With MAC, the security on all resources are strictly policy controlled. All processes and users (or subjects) must specifically given permission to access a resource (or object).

Subjects are given a number indicating their level of access. Subjects can access any object with a lower number. With modern military and national security systems this permissions matrix is supplemented with a classification level.

Discrestionary Access Control (DAC)

Discretionary Access Control is where a subject has control over an object. In this case a “subject” could be a home user. And lets say the home user has admin privileges because he wants to download applications like Kazaa Lite ++. The “object” or resource is Money Quick, a financial application that creates important bank account spreadsheets.

The home user is no fool so he locks the Money Quick application down so that only the administrator has permissions to the file. She is the only administrator on the computer so there is no problem right? Wrong. With DAC any application that runs while the current user is logged on has the same permissions.

So, the home user finds Kazaa Lite ++ on Internet and downloads it. The shareware app is of course loaded with all kinds of spyware, adware, Trojan filth that goes directly for her Money Quick software.

Is very popular and has been in use primarily in the commercial and academic worlds since the ’60’s.

Role Based Access Control (RBAC)

Role Based Access Control is fairly new and is considered the evolution of the DAC & MAC. With RBAC, each subject is assigned a role. Users without roles can be put into groups that pertain to a certain department or job such as sales or management. Objects only allow subjects on a permission basis. Modern operating systems such as Solaris, Linux and Window 2k/XP/03 are perfect example of how Role Based Access Control works.

The RBAC started in the 1990s and fully materialized in the RBAC96. There is currently a lot of research being done on the RBAC.

Rob Elam has authors the eLamb ★ Computer security blog at http://elamb.org. He has been doing security for the Department of the Defence for 10 years and is currently a System Security Engineer in Colorado.

Gratitude
John Cali

Over the years, Joseph has spoken often about gratitude, and the wonders it can create in our lives. In the USA this week we celebrate a day called Thanksgiving. A day of giving thanks for all the blessings in our lives. A day for expressing gratitude.

Joseph and I wrote this newsletter many years ago. But it’s never lost its timeliness, especially at this season of the year. And especially at this time in our human and planetary evolution.

I wish you all a most blessed and happy Thanksgiving, whether you’re in the USA or another country. We all have much to be thankful for, even in the world’s current state of affairs. So let us focus on all the good in our lives, especially during this holiday season.

Chief Joseph

There are many souls incarnated on the earth plane who appear to be struggling with attracting into their lives the barest, most basic necessities of physical survival. Abundance on all, or at least many, levels seems to elude them. And many of these souls often wonder why. Why them? Why is life such a struggle? Why can they not have more in their lives, more joy, more peace, more love, more money? More of all forms of abundance?

Now you’ve heard it said you create your own reality. And this is true. All of you create your own realities, your own experiences, every aspect of your experiences on the earth plane. However, even in knowing that, you may find little comfort or solace.

And yet it does not have to be this way. Abundance, in all forms, is your birthright as a child of the Goddess, the God. You are not only a child of the God/Goddess. You are the God/Goddess. You are one with God. And so this brings us back to the question of why so many, even among you, the lightworkers, are living lives of struggle.

You will hear, have already heard, voices telling you your “lot in life” is “God’s will.” Well, that’s true. The only problem is most of those uttering these words, or something similar, do not realize they are God! They are the God, the Goddess who has willed their own struggles, their lot in life. Simply being aware of, and accepting, that reality is very freeing. After all, the truth shall set you free.

We are in no way advocating you “beat up” on yourself if you are struggling with any aspect of your life. And, of course, it is true your higher self, your soul, can and will use whatever circumstances and conditions you are experiencing at the human level as the “raw material,” if you will, to produce a higher good for you. Another way of saying that is: Whatever is happening in your life can and will ultimately result in your highest good.

However, your highest good does not have to come through pain and struggle. It can come to you joyfully and easily. If you are not experiencing the abundance you want in your lives, it is because you are literally pushing it away from yourselves. After all, your natural state, your birthright, is abundance. You have always been provided for, even in the midst of your self-created struggles, though perhaps not in exactly the luxurious style to which you would love to become accustomed! But you have always been taken care of.

Think about that for a moment. Think about what you consider the worst experience of your life. Even in the midst of that experience, were you not provided for? Was there not someone “watching over” you? You have never been totally destitute, totally without resources, without recourse. You are, after all, divine beings, albeit in human form for a time. But still, you are Gods and Goddesses. And, as such, you have power, great power, divine power, absolute power to do, to create, to be anything you wish.

This is the part of your calendar year when some of your societies on the earth plane set aside a time, a day, dedicated to giving thanks. “Thanksgiving,” you’ve named it in the country you call the United States.

This is a good thing. The idea to set aside a time of thanks-giving was indeed a divinely inspired one. And there is a firm spiritual foundation underlying, if you will, the “giving of thanks.” It is what you might call a universal law. We shall call it, for today’s discussion, the Law of Gratitude.

Another law of the Universe goes something like this: You get what you focus your time and energy on. It’s called the Law of Attraction. If you focus mostly on lack and limitation, those are what you experience in your life. If you focus mostly on abundance and prosperity, you will, you must, experience those in your life. It’s the law! And it’s your choice. You get to choose whether to use the laws of the Universe for or against yourself.

And so, the giving of thanks, the expression of gratitude, is a truly magical tool. A tool you have, literally, at the tip of your tongue. You would be hard-pressed to say there is nothing in your life you can be thankful for.

Sit down and make a list, if that will help you remember all the good things, all the abundance, you have in your life right now. Think about the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the roof you sleep under, the money you have (even though you may want more), the loving and supportive family and friends you are blessed with.

Give thanks for the many blessings you already have in your life, and they will increase. They must increase. It’s the law of the Universe.

Make every day of your life Thanksgiving, a day of giving thanks to the Great Spirit, to the Universe, to your guides, teachers, and angels. And also thank your higher self, the one who, after all, helped you (the human “you”) create all the abundance you already have in your lives.

And, by the way, thank the human you too. You are all beings of great wisdom and courage. And we applaud your brave willingness to incarnate at this time in your planet’s history. A tumultuous time in many ways, but also a grand and glorious time to remember who you truly are. Your courage uplifts all, in your physical world and in our non-physical world. Your energy extends to the farthest reaches of the Universe, and uplifts all that is. That is how powerful you are, individually and together.

Giving thanks, expressing heartfelt gratitude, every day of your lives (even if only for a few moments each day) will indeed bring you rich rewards beyond your highest and wildest expectations and dreams.

Copyright © 2004 by Great Western Publishing

About the Author

Since 1992, John Cali has been communicating with a spirit called Joseph. In one of his many physical lifetimes, this spirit was incarnated as the legendary Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe in what is now Oregon.

Email john@greatwesternpublishing.org
Website www.greatwesternpublishing.org
Free newsletter at chiefjoseph-on@mail-list.com
Private readings with Chief Joseph at readings@greatwesternpublishing.org