Vanilla Mist

This post is my submission to the ProBlogger Group Writing Project – Reviews and Predictions.

Instead of trying to predict anything for the upcoming year, I’m going to use this post to talk about a belief I have about the future – and I will start with a Henry Ford quote that sums it all up:

Whether you think you can or can’t, either way you’re right.

The future is unwritten. It will be whatever we choose to make of it – individually and collectively. This is a very empowering belief. When you realize that you’re the only one in control of your future and take charge, whatever your circumstances are in the present, things start to change.

I’m a strong believer in the Law Of Attraction – just in case you missed the “subtle” ribbon at the top of the blog, “The Secret” is a movie about the Law of Attraction – go watch it if you haven’t yet, it’s a good place to start if you have never heard of the Law of Attraction. I will not go into details in this post, but I’ve had plenty of experiences this year that make it very hard for me not to believe that whatever we experience in life is a direct result of the predominant thoughts we hold – be they conscious or unconscious. We attract the things, people and circumstances that are congruent with our thoughts and beliefs.

So, with this in mind, I repeat: 2007 will be what we make of it. I for one intend to make it a wonderful year for myself – and do that consciously. All of us can do that. We can all create a wonderful future for ourselves, our society, our planet. If you don’t believe you can, well… like Henry Ford said, you’re right. If you believe you can, though, you are right too. So…

What will you choose to believe in 2007?

Here are some links to help you make up your mind:

http://www.realitycreating.com/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/06/how-intentions-manifest/
Wealth Beyond Reason
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Doyle14.html
http://www.dreammanifesto.com/
http://evolvingtimes.com/category/law-of-attraction/
The Secret – Larry King Live – Part 1

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If these rumors are true, then more people will finally migrate to Yahoo Messenger. I think it’s great!!! I can’t wait!! Why people insist in using MSN Messenger is a mystery to me. I hate the damn thing. For many different reasons, some of which I mentioned in an interview I gave last week to one of the big newspapers in Brasil. Yes, that’s how much I prefer Yahoo Messenger, I am so well known for liking it that I even got interviewd about it.

But honestly, why do people use MSN Messenger? It’s too big and takes a lot of space on screen, it doesn’t allow different status(es?) to different contacts, doesn’t send offline messages or even when you’re under invisible mode, the contact list is cluttered, not even the smilies are half expressive as Yahoo’s – and I could go on and on with reasons for people not to use MSN Messenger, but still it seems like everyone and their brothers use it. And I can’t convince many people to try using Yahoo, so if the above is true and Skype and Yahoo merge into one, I will be a very happy gal.

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Here’s an interesting perspecive on timeframe/budget/scope applied to web projects. From the 37 Signals’ Signal vs. Noise blog article, entitled “Geting Real“:

“Pick two: good, fast, or cheap.”

(…) for example, if your client has $50,000 to spend, and needs the project done in 8 weeks, then the scope is flexible. If the scope isn’t flexible, and they need it done in 8 weeks, then the budget needs to be flexible. If the budget and scope aren’t flexible, the the timeframe needs to be flexible. Something has to give if you want to deliver a great project. Trying to make a fixed scope, fixed timeframe, and a fixed budget fit a project is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

While I agree with this perspective, I know for a fact that some agencies deliver all 3, no flexibility, period. However a fourth factor needs to give: the team. This is possible in one – and in one only – situation: when people are willing to work in extraordinarily demanding conditions because working for agency “xyz” and being a part of project “abc” is might be “good” for their carreers. I’ve seen it happen. Been there, did that for the exact ammount of time it took me to realize how incredibly unfair that was and that we (the team) were paying the price for what made the agency look good. So good that more and more people were willing to work there, under the exact same conditions. We were feeding the system ourselves. And so, I left…

I’m not sure how this works in other countries. I consider myself to be a very hard worker and extremely commited. While running my own agency, I work a lot and seldomly can afford to take personal time in regular intervals. Pretty much the same way it was back in those days when I worked for this specific agency. But I am doing this for myself, for my own benefit. It’s a personal decision, no one will ‘fire me’ if I take personal time, as if this was some kind of sinful action. I guess in the end, I’m still the one delivering flexibility. And so, I agree: something has to give!

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I am so shocked with the recent tragedy in South Asia – the earthquake and the tsumanis. I had nightmares before about tsunamis invading a beach I was at, but these people faced the real thing, a real life nightmare. So many lives lost, so many people suffering the loss of their loved ones… What a tragedy!

Immagine what it must be like to face a giant wave coming towards you. This is the kind of thing people make movies about, it must be incredibly scary, I feel so sorry for these people and their families…

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update: I have a friend who´s spending her holidays in India with her husband. We haven´t heard anything from them yet, I´m aprehensive, but I don´t think they were at the affected areas at the time.

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My husband bought me the “Elton John Greatest Hits – Live at Madison Square Garden“. Yes, I´m an Elton John fan!

The duet he sings with Billy Joel (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) is absolutely perfect! Same goes to the duet with Ronan Keating (”Your Song”, my all time Elton John favourite!), who has a beautiful crystal clear voice!

My husband is not particularly fond of Elton John´s songs, but the other day I was watching the DVD and he said: “I have to admit that this song is definitely wonderful (referring to “Your Song”). If feels like time stops and nothing else matters, it just fills the room.”

I agree… This is the one song I stop to listen everytime I get the chance and it bugs the hell out of me if people start talking while it´s on. Just listen for crying out loud! It´s a piece of musical art…

I might buy some more of his DVDs. Yeah…

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