Here’s an excerpt from Adventures in Friendship by David Grayson – written in 1910.

Beauty? I have no need to go a mile: I have only to come up through my thicket or cross my field from my own roadside—and behold, a new heaven and a new earth!

Things grow old and stale, not because they are old, but because we cease to see them. Whole vibrant significant worlds around us disappear within the somber mists of familiarity. Whichever way we look the roads are dull and barren. There is a tree at our gate we have not seen in years: a flower blooms in our door-yard more wonderful than the shining heights of the Alps!

It has seemed to me sometimes as though I could see men hardening before my eyes, drawing in a feeler here, walling up an opening there. Naming things! Objects fall into categories for them and wear little sure channels in the brain. A mountain is a mountain, a tree a tree to them, a field forever a field. Life solidifies itself in words. And finally how everything wearies them and that is old age!

Is it not the prime struggle of life to keep the mind plastic? To see and feel and hear things newly? To accept nothing as settled; to defend the eternal right of the questioner? To reject every conclusion of yesterday before the surer observations of to-day? Is not that the best life we know?

Copyright © 2011 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

Want to reprint this post “as is” on your blog or in your newsletter?

You may do so as long as this entire resource box is also included:

I’m Sharon Michaels.com and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business.

I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly Ezine, http://unlimitedsuccessforwomen.com because in just minutes a week I can show you how to successfully grow yourself and your business, make more money and have more time to enjoy your life!

My husband and I took a walk this morning and started remembering our “electric” memories of Gallup New Mexico. I believe we can all tap into the “energy” that is surrounding us and I’d like to share this story with you . . .

Several years ago my husband and I were traveling in the Southwest United States from Colorado to Phoenix. We decided to spend the night in Gallup New Mexico. We couldn’t sleep – it was as if our mind couldn’t and wouldn’t turn off. Honestly, it was like there was something “electric” in the air. We were energized and yet, very peaceful and content.

We weren’t at all sleepy even though we’d been driving all day. We stayed up most of the night writing our family goals and talking about our hopes and dreams for the future. I was literally tingling with energy.

Finally around two or three in the morning we got a couple of hours of sleep and awoke before dawn feeling surprisingly refreshed. We could still feel an “electric” like energy. Neither of us had experienced anything like this before.

Before we set out on the road again we went to a local coffee shop for breakfast. We began talking with the staff and started telling them how energized we felt. They said they understood why and it was to be expected.

Here’s what they told us: We arrived in Gallup on Monday and that past weekend there had been a multi-nation Native  American Pow Wow. Thousands of Native Americans from several tribes had gathered in and around Gallup. The pow wow was focused on delivering healing energy to the earth and the universe. Talk about powerful energetic vibrations!

Was it any wonder I was vibrating with energy? I believe we have a life’s energy that is connected to the earth and one another. We can use this energy positively or negatively – it’s our conscious choice.

Just imagine how this positive energy was still radiating throughout Gallup New Mexico on Monday from the weekend’s pow wow. Even writing about it all these years later, I’m still amazed by the extent of the energy we felt. It is something neither one of us will ever forget.

It started me thinking about how I could harness my own energy. What if I could feel that “electric” energy more often? One thing is for sure, when like minds come together for a positive purpose it creates positive energy.

Here’s what I decided to do:

• I’ve begun to choose my friends and associates very carefully. I realize that like energy attracts like energy.
• I’ve decided to focus energy on what can be done and what is possible.
• I’ve decided to appreciate the positives more often and share that positive energy during my teleconferences and in my writing.
• My goal is to transfer some my positive energy to you.

I invite you to join me in energizing the earth with our positive energy – together we can make a positive “electric” difference!

Copyright © 2011 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

Want to reprint this post “as is” on your blog or in your newsletter?

You may do so as long as this entire resource box is also included:

I’m Sharon Michaels.com and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business.

I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly Ezine, http://unlimitedsuccessforwomen.com because in just minutes a week I can show you how to successfully grow  yourself and your business, make more money and have more time to enjoy  your life!

Here in the United States it is Independence Day weekend and it has me thinking:

Many years ago there was a commercial that claimed, “You’ve come a long way baby.” After reading this article, you’ll realize and appreciate that today’s women have truly come a long way toward greater financial independence and freedom. I know too that we have many more financial trails to blaze and we will!

I recently read a poll that was very interesting. Here’s the gist: “Of all the freedoms that women have earned over the past 100 years, which do you feel is the most important?”

a. right to control own money

b. right to vote

c. getting rid of the corset

d. greater educational/employment opportunities. . . and a few more choices.

Which do you think was the leading vote getter?

If you chose – a. right to control own money, you’re right.

Here are some interesting facts you may or may not know about what women were legally “allowed” to do and not do with their own finances.

• As recently as the 1960’s married women could not borrow money in their own name.

• In the 1960’s it was legal to pay women and men differently for doing exactly the same job. In fact it was legal to advertise jobs: Help Wanted – Men or Help Wanted – Women.

• In early American law there was a legal concept known coverture. Basically it decreed that a women’s legal status after marriage changed so that husband and wife became one legal entity. What did that mean? A woman lost her legal identity as far as financial and property rights were concerned. Wives could not control their own property (physical or financial), could not bring lawsuits and could not make contracts. The husband had complete control to sell or dispose of property without her permission, even if the property belonged to her before the marriage.

• Dower was the portion or share of a woman’s deceased husband’s real estate to which she was legally entitled to inherit. Generally, the wife was entitled to just one-third of her deceased husband’s property. As the widow, she had no rights to sell or bequeath her share of that property. The United States abolished dower in 1945.

Why do I even bring up the past? I believe, many of the old “truisms” about women and money are still affecting money beliefs today. As modern capable women, we may be dragging around old beliefs, insecurities and “truisms” about the ability to expertly handle money.

Ask yourself this, what did you hear in your family or neighborhood about wealthy women?

Your negative and positive beliefs and values about money are handed down from generation to generation. Beliefs and values are formed through family stories, watching the behavior of important role models and even unconscious emotional reactions to day-to-day financial situations. What great-grandmother believed and felt generations ago may still be a part of your unconscious belief system today.

The lessons to be learned: The past is the past – it’s our time and choice to go forward in positive, empowered and productive financial ways.

This article originally appeared on BellaOnline.com 2009 in the Abundance and Wealth section – written by Sharon Michaels

Copyright © 2011 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

Want to reprint this post “as is” on your blog or in your newsletter?

You may do so as long as this entire resource box is also included:

I’m Sharon Michaels.com and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business.

I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly Ezine, http://unlimitedsuccessforwomen.com because in just minutes a week I can show you how to successfully grow  yourself and your business, make more money and have more time to enjoy  your life!

You know I love to read and share how through history women were expected to act, dress and “behave.” I found this recently and thought it was a good insight into history. The year it was published was 1860.

Here is the entire title:
THE LADIES’ BOOK OF ETIQUETTE,
AND MANUAL OF POLITENESS.
A COMPLETE HAND BOOK FOR THE USE OF THE LADY IN POLITE SOCIETY.

BY
FLORENCE HARTLEY
Published in 1860

This excerpt is about proper dress:

“A lady is never so well dressed as when you cannot remember what she wears.”

No truer remark than the above was ever made. Such an effect can only be produced where every part of the dress harmonizes entirely with the other parts, where each color or shade suits the wearer’s style completely, and where there is perfect neatness in each detail.

One glaring color, or conspicuous article, would entirely mar the beauty of such a dress. It is, unfortunately, too much the custom in America to wear any article, or shape in make, that is fashionable, without any regard to the style of the person purchasing goods. If it is the fashion it must be worn, though it may greatly exaggerate a slight personal defect, or conceal or mar what would otherwise be a beauty.

It requires the exercise of some judgment to decide how far an individual may follow the dictates of fashion, in order to avoid the appearance of eccentricity, and yet wear what is peculiarly becoming to her own face or figure.

Another fault of our fair countrywomen is their extravagance in dress. No better advice can be given to a young person than to dress always according to her circumstances. She will be more respected with a simple wardrobe, if it is known either that she is dependent upon her own exertions for support, or is saving a husband or father from unnecessary outlay, than if she wore the most costly fabrics, and by so doing incurred debt or burdened her relatives with heavy, unwarrantable expense.

If neatness, consistency, and good taste, preside over the wardrobe of a lady, expensive fabrics will not be needed; for with the simplest materials, harmony of color, accurate fitting to the figure, and perfect neatness, she will always appear well dressed.

**Note from Sharon: Sounds like a lot to remember doesn’t it?**

Blog Copyright ©2011 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

I’m Sharon Michaels and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business. I show women entrepreneurs how to build a financially successful business by empowering themselves and enhancing their business-building skills.

I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly Ezine, Unlimited Success for Women In just minutes a week I can show you how to successfully grow yourself and your business, make more money and have more time to enjoy your life!

Cheerfulness As A Life Power – Published 1899

You know I believe we can learn so much from reading books that were published many, many years ago. Orison Swett Marden wrote several self-improvement books in the late 1800′s through the 1920′s. He is definitely one of the founding “grandfathers” of the modern self-development movement.

Enjoy an excerpt of his pearls of wisdom which still ring true over 100 years later: 

“Worry Kills”

How quickly we Americans exhaust life! With what panting haste we pursue everything! Every man you meet seems to be late for an appointment. Hurry is stamped in the wrinkles of the national face. We are men of action; we go faster and faster as the years go by, speeding our machinery to the utmost. Bent forms, prematurely gray hair, restlessness and discontent, are characteristic of our age and people. We earn our bread, but cannot digest it; and our over-stimulated nerves soon become irritated, and touchiness follows,—so fatal to a business man, and so annoying in society.

“It is not work that kills men,” says Beecher; “it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction.” 

It is not so much the great sorrows, the great burdens, the great hardships, the great calamities, that cloud over the sunshine of life, as the little petty vexations, insignificant anxieties and fear, the little daily dyings, which render our lives unhappy, and destroy our mental elasticity, without advancing our life-work one inch. “Anxiety never yet bridged any chasm.” 

“What,” asks Dr. George W. Jacoby, in an “Evening Post” interview, “is the ultimate physical effect of worry? Why, the same as that of a fatal bullet-wound or sword-thrust. Worry kills as surely, though not so quickly, as ever gun or dagger did, and more people have died in the last century from sheer worry than have been killed in battle.” 

Dr. Jacoby is one of the foremost of American brain doctors. “The investigations of the neurologists,” he says, “have laid bare no secret of Nature in recent years more startling and interesting than the discovery that worry kills.” 

“No mental attitude is more disastrous to personal achievement, personal happiness, and personal usefulness in the world, than worry and its twin brother, despondency. Relaxation is the certain foe of worry, and ‘don’t fret’ one of the healthiest of maxims.” 

Some people waste a large percentage of their energy in fretting and stewing, in useless anxiety, in scolding, in complaining about the weather and the perversity of inanimate things. Others convert nearly all of their energy into power and moral sunshine.

He who has learned the true art of living will not waste his energies in friction, which accomplishes nothing, but merely grinds out the machinery of life.

Copyright ©2011 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

I’m Sharon Michaels and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business. I show women entrepreneurs how to build a financially successful business by empowering themselves and enhancing their business-building skills.

I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly Ezine, Unlimited Success for Women In just minutes a week I can show you how to successfully grow yourself and your business, make more money and have more time to enjoy your life!

This excerpt is taken from Healthy Life Magazine written in 1913 and still rings true today:

“Put yourself in his place” is a very old and respectable recipe for growing justice in one’s conduct, consideration in one’s speech, sympathy in one’s heart.

As employer or magistrate,
as teacher or nurse,
as customer or shopman,
as parent or husband or child . . .

we must all deal somehow with our fellow-men: honestly, truthfully, kindly and helpfully.

But is it not the more or the less of our imagination that makes such dealings possible?

Without it, we are cruel because of something we do not feel, unjust because there is something we do not know, unwittingly deceitful because there is something we do not understand.

With it, our justice will support, our kindness uplift, our attempt at help will not be barren, but will awake response and raise the whole level of our human interaction into a region of higher possibilities.

Wouldn’t you agree these words still ring true today?

I’d like to recommend:
Is it time to expand your comfort zone, make some “ideal” changes in your life and expand your imagination?

You can click on the photo or link below to read more details and order your E-copy: http://www.isyourcomfortzonetoocomfortable.com/

Copyright © 2011 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

I’m Sharon Michaels and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business. I show women entrepreneurs how to build a financially successful business by empowering themselves and enhancing their business-building skills.

I invite you to subscribe to my free weekly Ezine, Unlimited Success for Women In just minutes a week I can show you how to successfully grow yourself and your business, make more money and have more time to enjoy your life!

Those who read my blog regularly know that I love history – especially the history of strong resourceful women. I came across this “journal” and wanted to share it with you. To me it shows the resilency and inner determination of women who lived through hard times.

This excerpt is taken from “A Woman’s War Journal” which was kept during the Civil War. The author Dolly Sumner Lunt (Mrs Thomas Burge) shares her thoughts, feelings and insights during these unsure times in the state of Georgia.

A Woman’s Wartime Journal
An account of the passage over a Georgia plantation of Sherman’s army on the march to the sea, as recorded in the diary of Dolly Sumner Lunt.

Published in 1918

Mrs. Burge (Dolly Sumner Lunt) was born September 29, 1817, in Bowdoinham, Maine. As a young woman she moved from Maine to Georgia, where her married sister was already settled.

While teaching school in Covington she met Thomas Burge, a plantation-owner and gentleman of the Old South, and presently married him.  When some years later Mr. Burge died, Mrs. Burge was left on the plantation with her little daughter Sarah (the “Sadai” of the journal). Less than three years after she was widowed the Civil War broke out, and in 1864 this cultivated and charming woman saw Sherman’s army pass across her fields on the March to the Sea. 

JULY 22, 1864.
[The day of the battle of Atlanta]
We have heard the loud booming of cannon all day. Mr. Ward [the overseer] went over to the burial of Thomas Harwell, whose death I witnessed yesterday. They had but just gone when the Rev. A. Turner, wife, and daughter drove up with their wagons, desiring to rest awhile. They went into the ell [a large back room] and lay down, I following them, wishing to enjoy their company. Suddenly I saw the servants running to the palings, and I walked to the door, when I saw such a stampede as I never witnessed before. The road was full of carriages, wagons, men on horseback, all riding at full speed. Judge Floyd stopped, saying: “Mrs. Burge, the Yankees are coming. They have got my family, and here is all I have upon earth.
Hide your mules and carriages and whatever valuables you have.”

Sadai [Mrs. Burge's nine-year-old daughter] said:
“Oh, Mama, what shall we do?”

“Never mind, Sadai,” I said. “They won’t hurt you, and you must help me hide my things.”

I went to the smoke-house, divided out the meat to the servants, and bid them hide it. Julia took a jar of lard and buried it. In the meantime Sadai was taking down and picking up our clothes, which she was giving to the servants to hide in their cabins; silk dresses, challis, muslins, and merinos, linens, and hosiery, all found their way into the chests of the women and under their beds; china and silver were buried underground, and Sadai bid Mary hide a bit of soap under some bricks, that mama might have a little left. Then she came to me with a part of a loaf of bread, asking if she had not better put it in her pocket, that we might have something to eat that night. And, verily, we had cause to fear that we might be homeless, for on every side we could see smoke arising from burning buildings and bridges.

Major Ansley, who was wounded in the hip in the battle of Missionary Ridge, and has not recovered, came with his wife, sister, two little ones, and servants. He was traveling in a bed in a small wagon. They had thought to get to Eatonton, but he was so wearied that they stopped with me for the night. I am glad to have them. I shall sleep none to-night. The woods are full of refugees.

Copyright © 2010 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

I’m Sharon Michaels  and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business.

Sign up for my free weekly Ezine Unlimited Success For Women and have professional success strategies and personal development how-to’s sent directly to your email inbox.

This story has been around the Internet for a few years and the original author is unknown. I’m posting it because I believe the message is worth sharing.

The next time you hear or see an airplane or travel on one, remember where it all started. A simply idea conceived in the minds of two young men who did not finish high school. Believe it or not, they did not have a University degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or any other subject. They were not scientists in the true sense of the word. In fact, many of their peers who did not witness their accomplishment, had trouble believing that two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio did what they claimed.

Back in the 19th century two brothers had an idea that eventually became their passionate and consuming dream. Their relentless pursuit of that dream was rewarded with an accomplishment that changed world travel.

On Friday December 17, 1903 at 10:35 AM, the Wright brothers (Wilbur and Orville) achieved their dream. They flew “the world’s first power-driven, heavier-than-air machine in which man made free, controlled, and sustained flight.” This memorable feat took place at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on a cold windy morning.

The dream started with an idea that was planted in their minds by a toy given to them by their father. In the words of the boys, “Late in the autumn of 1878, our father came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands, and before we could see what it was, he tossed it into the air. Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor.” This simple toy made of bamboo, cork and stretched rubber bands, fascinated the Wright brothers and sparked their lifelong interest in human flight.

The Wright brothers were great thinkers. They enjoyed learning new things. Initially, they recycled broken parts, built a printing press and opened their own printing office. Their interest moved to bicycles and in 1893, they opened the Wright Cycle Company where they sold and repaired bicycles. But Wilbur (the older brother) had his mind set on something more exciting. He decided to seriously pursue flying.

The brothers spent many hours researching, testing their machines and making improvements after unsuccessful attempts at human flight. What started out as a hobby soon became a passion. With determination and patience they realized their dream in 1903.

The next time you hear or see an airplane or travel on one, remember where it all started. A simply idea conceived in the minds of two young men who did not finish high school. Believe it or not, they did not have a University degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or any other subject. They were not scientists in the true sense of the word. In fact, many of their peers who did not witness their accomplishment, had trouble believing that two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio did what they claimed.

Do you have an idea, a concept or an invention that could change history? Is it time to venture out of your comfort zone and go for you goals? Honestly, what do you have to lose?

Copyright © 2010 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

Is it time to venture out and make some changes, set some lofty goals and take some risks? I invite you to check out my newest EBook and Audio – Is Your Comfort Zone Too Comfortable? I walk you through step-by-step just as if we were in a workshop together. I’ll show you how to live a bigger, bolder and brighter life! Here’s a link to my new EBook and Audio:  http://isyourcomfortzonetoocomfortable.com

I’m Sharon Michaels  and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business.

Sign up for my free weekly Ezine Unlimited Success For Women and have professional success strategies and personal development how-to’s sent directly to your email inbox.

I’m fascinated with what we can learn from the “guide books” that influenced our great grandparents, grandparents and even our parents.  Are we still influenced by Emily Post today? Let me know what you think . . . 

ETIQUETTE IN SOCIETY, IN BUSINESS, IN POLITICS AND AT HOME

BY EMILY POST (MRS. PRICE POST) 

Funk & Wagnalls Company
New York And London
1922 

 How To Cultivate An Agreeable Speech 

First of all, remember that while affectation is odious, crudeness must be overcome. A low voice is always pleasing, not whispered or murmured, but low in pitch. Do not talk at the top of your head, nor at the top of your lungs. Do not slur whole sentences together; on the other hand, do not pronounce as though each syllable were a separate tongue and lip exercise. 

As a nation we do not talk so much too fast, as too loud. Tens of thousands twang and slur and shout and burr! Many of us drawl and many others of us race tongues and breath at full speed, but, as already said, the speed of our speech does not matter so much. Pitch of voice matters very much and so does pronunciation—enunciation is not so essential—except to one who speaks in public. 

Enunciation means the articulation of whatever you have to say distinctly and clearly. Pronunciation is the proper sounding of consonants, vowels and the accentuation of each syllable. 

There is no better way to cultivate a perfect pronunciation; apart from association with cultivated people, than by getting a small pronouncing dictionary of words in ordinary use, and reading it word by word, marking and studying any that you use frequently and mispronounce. When you know them, then read any book at random slowly aloud to yourself, very carefully pronouncing each word. The consciousness of this exercise may make you stilted in conversation at first, but by and by the “sense” or “impulse” to speak correctly will come. 

This is a method that has been followed by many men handicapped in youth through lack of education, who have become prominent in public life, and by many women, who likewise handicapped by circumstances, have not only made possible a creditable position for themselves, but have then given their children the inestimable advantage of learning their mother tongue correctly at their mother’s knee.

Copyright © 2010 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

Is it time to venture out and make some changes, set some lofty goals and take some risks? I invite you to check out my newest EBook and Audio – Is Your Comfort Zone Too Comfortable? I walk you through step-by-step just as if we were in a workshop together. I’ll show you how to live a bigger, bolder and brighter life! Here’s a link to my new EBook and Audio:  http://isyourcomfortzonetoocomfortable.com

I’m Sharon Michaels  and my business is dedicated to empowering and coaching women in business. I show women entrepreneurs how to build a financially successful business by empowering themselves and enhancing their business-building skills.

Sign up for my free weekly Ezine Unlimited Success For Women and have professional success strategies and personal development how-to’s sent directly to your email inbox.

You know I love history, especially when it shows us how women were “educated” to act in society and business. The following advice is straight out of Etiquette, by Emily Post published in 1922. This classic book set the standard for how “ladies and gentlemen” were to behave in proper society. Emily Post’s book had been the etiquette gold standard for generations.

You’ll enjoy this information from Chapter Three entitled Greetings:

Shaking Hands

Gentlemen always shake hands when they are introduced to each other. Ladies rarely do so with gentlemen who are introduced to them; but they usually shake hands with other ladies, if they are standing near together. All people who know each other, unless merely passing by, shake hands when they meet.

A gentleman on the street never shakes hands with a lady without first removing his right glove. But at the opera, or at a ball, or if he is usher at a wedding, he keeps his glove on.

Personality Of A Handshake

A handshake often creates a feeling of liking or of irritation between two strangers. Who does not dislike a “boneless” hand extended as though it were a spray of sea-weed, or a miniature boiled pudding? It is equally annoying to have one’s hand clutched aloft in grotesque affectation and shaken violently sideways, as though it were being used to clean a spot out of the atmosphere. What woman does not wince at the viselike grasp that cuts her rings into her flesh and temporarily paralyzes every finger?

The proper handshake is made briefly; but there should be a feeling of strength and warmth in the clasp, and, as in bowing, one should at the same time look into the countenance of the person whose hand one takes.

In giving her hand to a foreigner, a married woman always relaxes her arm and fingers, as it is customary for him to lift her hand to his lips. But by a relaxed hand is not meant a wet rag; a hand should have life even though it be passive.

A woman should always allow a man who is only an acquaintance to shake her hand; she should never shake his. To a very old friend she gives a much firmer clasp, but he shakes her hand more than she shakes his. Younger women usually shake the hand of the older; or they both merely clasp hands, give them a dropping movement rather than a shake, and let go.

Copyright © 2010 Sharon Michaels – All Rights Reserved

For over twenty years Sharon Michaels has been writing, speaking and empowering women to achieve greater personal and professional success. Sharon mentors/coaches women entrepreneurs about learning to recognize the things they’re doing that may be keeping them from the things they want.

Sign up for Sharon’s free weekly Ezine Unlimited Success For Women and have professional success strategies and personal development how-to’s sent directly to your email inbox.

If you’re ready to recognize what may be holding you back and to seriously build on your strengths and talents, you’re ready to coach with Sharon Michaels. “I believe you have the answers to your success inside of you right now, it is my job to ask the right questions. I ask great questions!” Here are details about Sharon’s coaching programs: http://www.sharonismymentor.com