Articles by Elsabe Smit on ArticleSnatch.com

How Long Should Marriage Vows Last?

Fri, 28 May 2010 12:28:18 -0400

I recently wrote an article in which I explained that any relationship has a natural duration, after which it ends - unless the people in the relationship hold on to the relationship for dear life. This raised a question about marriage vows. Divorce statistics prove to us time and again that despite the religious and legal pressure on us, marriages do not last for ever - they do not even last for a lifetime. And even where a marriage lasts for a lifetime, people often tell me that they have been desperately unhappy in their "long and happy" marriage because they were forced to stay in it for health or financial reasons or because of social pressure. In these situations, even though the marriage certificate is there, the marriage did not last for a lifetime. Who are we trying to fool? Why do we have marriage vows? The earliest marriage vows were not between two people. The vows were between a person and the village that this person joined by means of a ceremony. The person undertook to help watch over and protect the tribe and the village, in exchange for their protection. **End Summary** Topics: Marriage]]> married]]> relationship]]> relationships]]> divorce]]> marriage vows]]> lifetime]]> marriage certificate]]> marriage contract]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE new start quiz and a FREE Food for Thought subscription.

Letting Go of a Relationship

Fri, 21 May 2010 05:55:36 -0400

Why is it that we hold on to relationships long past their natural end? Think of a friendship that no longer exists. Do you still remember how your friend insulted or deserted you? You gained new friends, but you still feel that hurt. Remember that supervisor who made your life such hell that you left to get a new job? You smile every time you think what a sad sod that supervisor is, and how much better off you are now. Or you still resent the opportunity that you missed as a result of that person, even though you gained much more from the new job than from the old one. Then of course there is your marriage. You have known for a long time that there is nothing left of that relationship, but you still hold on. You cannot get a divorce - or so you have convinced yourself. You are dying a slow death every day because your partner refuses to change. Probably the most destructive relationship to hold on to is a marriage, because of all the social and cultural restrictions against divorce. **End Summary** Topics: love]]> marriage]]> divorce]]> relationship]]> relationships]]> friend]]> friendship]]> hurt]]> rape]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE new start quiz and a FREE Food for Thought subscription.

Who is in Command?

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:20:37 -0500

I am always fascinated about how our questions get answered - and sometimes how we are steered in a direction without even asking the question. Someone very dear and close to me is at a point where he has no dignity or quality of life left. He had told me in so many words that he is not afraid of dying. Yet he is still holding on to life while his mind and body are shutting down at an alarming rate. It breaks my heart to see a man stripped of everything, and to see the effect on other loved people and feel the pain in my heart every time I see him. I have for a while been preparing myself for his transition, and I have wondered what it is that is holding him back. And no, this is not wishing him dead, this is wishing him a peaceful and pain-free transition into the next part of his life. I recently browsed in a second-hand bookstore and found one of those gems written about the spiritual experiences of a religious family. I find that those books have much credibility because they do not try to prove a point. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for a FREE new start audit and a FREE Food for Thought subscription, as well as details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

Why the Secret Causes Stress

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:10:21 -0500

By now we all know the Secret: decide what you want, and believe that it will come your way. The more you believe, the quicker it comes your way. Right? Then why does it not work? Why are we not all very rich and healthy and happy by now? There are a few other factors that we need to be aware of when we want to apply the Secret. The first factor is our own resistance against anything new. You say you don't resist anything new? OK, let's try this. Let me tell you that I have discovered the cure for all cancers. What are your immediate thoughts? I bet you have a number of "yes, but" and "what if" thoughts in your head. Now, if I did discover the cure for cancer and you had cancer, that cure would not work for you, because your thoughts block the cure. This is the case with everything we want in this life. We intuitively know that everything is possible. We then consciously place obstacles in the way. These obstacles range from emotional to financial to scientific and other "facts". Why do I doubt the validity of those "facts"? **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

Are you doing Job's job?

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:45:01 -0500

Here is an interesting piece of information: I looked up the meaning of the word "job" in the dictionary. The meanings included "task, chore, difficulty, problem, trouble, hard time". This reminded me of a biblical figure called Job, whose name means "persecuted, afflicted, adversity". Is there some message in there? I wonder. Have you been made redundant recently? It is interesting how such an experience impacts not only on you, but also on your colleagues who are not made redundant. I have been made redundant three times in my career. The first time was a horrible experience, because I had no idea how to deal with it and my colleagues did not even want to talk to me - as if I had some disease that they would pick up just from being in my presence. Of course I asked myself what I had done wrong, because at the time I had no knowledge of the meaning of life experiences and how we live a pre-planned blueprint. I only realized much later how much I gained from the experience and how it had turned me into a better, stronger person. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

How to Live an Authentic Life

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:23:45 -0500

Are you living an authentic life? How would you know where to find the answer to this question? Frank Joseph said "Following a vocation, that inner call, is not self-indulgence or an excuse for laziness. Doing what one really wants to do is hard work, but it is self-fulfilling as nothing else can be. It is the ultimate key to personal happiness in the physical world." These words have given me much comfort at a time when my career and life have fused in a direction which I least anticipated. I am now following my inner call and it has taken me to a place which is mind-blowing. How big this change is, will soon be known to the world. This has not come without sacrifice. I have left dear friends behind - but I have the comfort of knowing that I am following my destiny and that my friends will catch up with me. I have had to redefine relationships with relatives, some with ease, others with heart-breaking bravery. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

You Deserve a Stress-Free Life!

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:46:24 -0500

L Scott Peck wrote a book called "The Road Less Travelled". The first three sentences in the book read "Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it". Is your life difficult? If your answer is yes, does that mean you have not seen the truth yet? There is no real reason for life to remain difficult. I have realised long ago that life is actually a fascinating puzzle. As long as you only search for the next piece of the puzzle, the experience is painful, confusing, and not pleasant at all. You do not see the full picture. It is as if you are wearing a blindfold and ear plugs, and you find yourself on a set of stairs in the dark. When you realise that there are so many ways to step back and see the bigger picture, you wonder why people would insist on remaining in the dark. I am not talking about religion here. I am talking about obtaining knowledge that is much deeper and much more profound. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

How to Turn Sleepless Nights into Sweet Dreams

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:48:42 -0500

This is a quote from the Wall Street Journal in September 2009: "A recent study reported that 52% of working French don't sleep well on Sunday night. But work-related stress is not a French disease, and is ubiquitous and severe in all developed economies. In the U.K. and U.S. 70% of employees don't sleep well on Sunday night either." That means probably about 19 302 500 French workers, 98 413 700 Americans and 21 700 000 British people spent their Sunday nights tossing and turning in September of 2009, instead of getting a good night's sleep. Was September 2009 a bad month? No. Did these people have a restless night because they were really looking forward to going to work on Monday morning? I am sure some of them did, but that would probably be a fraction of a percentage of the number. Why would people have a good weekend and then have a restless night before returning to work? Over weekends we tend to do the things that please us. We do what makes us happy. We relax and enjoy time with friends and family. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

How to have a New Year free of stress

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:10:56 -0500

At the time of writing this article, the year 2010 is just over 6 weeks away. That will be the beginning of a new decade. It feels like yesterday when we were celebrating the new millennium and the birth of a new world. What happened to your New Year's resolutions for 2001? And for the subsequent years? Has your life improved significantly over the past decade as a result of your New Year's resolutions and all the changes you have made in your life? Has your life become completely stress-free, happy and abundant? I think I know the answer to my question, even if I don't know you. The same answer applied to me for many years while I was just plodding along and living my life. Or at least I thought I was living my life. At the time I thought that life was what came my way, and what I made of whatever came my way. I was passive, and at times I really felt like a victim. I had various life experiences that shook my belief in myself. I wondered about the reason for my being here. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and businesses to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit her website for details on the SMIT-method for stress relief.

The Truth About Stress Relief

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:40:16 -0500

Is life stressful? Yes, of course. Are there ways to relieve stress? Yes, of course. For most people the way to relieve stress is to take a tranquilliser, a sleeping pill, a cigarette or a drink of alcohol. Do any of these crutches relieve stress? No, they don't. They simply dull the symptoms of stress. And the more people rely on these chemical crutches for stress relief, the more they get stressed, because now their bodies have to fight the stress as well as the chemical imbalances. How is stress defined? If you do a search on the internet, you will either find many causes of stress, or an acknowledgement that it is not possible to relieve stress. I do not agree with either view. There are not many causes of stress. It is possible to define stress. Is for example moving house stressful? Yes, and no. For some people moving house is quite exciting, for example two people in a relationship who move in together, or a family moving to a larger house. For other people moving house is quite stressful, for example moving into a care home or losing your house and moving into rented accommodation. **End Summary** Topics: Physical]]> stress]]> anxiety]]> burnout]]> anger]]> psychological]]> depression]]> illness]]> depressed]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a new modular course that will equip you to deal with any stressful situation.

How to Love Your Relatives

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:03:30 -0400

I come from a family of special souls. We are as different as chalk and cheese. The chalks have beautiful colours. The cheeses have a wide range of textures tastes. Together, we make an interesting, tasty and useful combination. There is nothing that brings out the best in people like a family crisis. This is when we stand together and support each other. We form a wall between us and the rest of the world, and we protect one another's interests. We provide emotional support and at times financial support. We have meals together when we can. We stay in contact, unlike other families where siblings disappear for years without a trace. There is also nothing that brings out the worst in people like a family crisis. This is where we each show our true colours and tastes. Yes, we all have true colours, because we all have some chalk in us. We all have the gritty bits that taste like sand. We all become the piece of dust in another's eye. We also have our own tastes, preferences and ways of doing things. We know who will choose heads and who will choose tails in bets. **End Summary** Topics: family]]> relatives]]> siblings]]> chalk]]> cheese]]> balance]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE new start audit and a FREE Food for Thought subscription.

Shop Assistants: Our New Conscience

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:30:12 -0400

Are you tired from work today? Are you putting your feet up and having a drink? Before you take another sip, let me ask you: who gave you permission to have that drink? If you are saying it is none of my business, you are right. However, if I was a shop assistant in the UK, it could easily have been my business. Of course you are an adult and you can decide when, where and how much you want to drink. And chances are that you are a generation older than the average shop assistant. How would you feel if you go to your local friendly supermarket to buy your favourite tipple, and the shop assistant refuses to serve you? Would you go back to that shop? Before you answer: what if the shop assistant is acting on instructions? Would you really want to shoot the messenger? The UK is well known in Europe for having the highest level of alcoholism. For every one person who is addicted to a class A drug, there are six people who are addicted to alcohol. **End Summary** Topics: alcohol]]> alcoholism]]> addiction]]> wine]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE new start audit and a FREE Food for Thought subscription.

You Cannot See The Picture When You Are in The Frame

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:50:37 -0400

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you ask yourself "Why have things gone so wrong for me? What have I done to deserve this?" I have had many of them over the years. When I was still a church goer, the standard sanctimonious answer was "Just suffer through it. One day you will see the reason why God has punished you like this, and then you will understand." It made no sense to me whatsoever that this old man with a beard sitting up there in the clouds would "punish" me with things like a broken leg, a divorce, redundancy, friends who disappointed me and so on. Surely He had other, more useful things to do with His time than to think out these various "punishments" for me? And if He really was gunning for me, then he had his knife in for everyone around me as well, because they each had their own version of "punishment". The funny thing was that over the years I did discover why things had happened to me - and no, it had absolutely nothing to do with punishment for my sins. **End Summary** Topics: God]]> punishment]]> punish]]> church]]> life]]> life experience]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE new start audit and a FREE Food for Thought subscription.

It is true because I was told it is true

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:06:25 -0400

How many things do you believe because someone else tells you that it is true? Let me give you an example. When you are a child, you trust people and do not question what your parents tell you. As you gain life experience, your parents are there to guide you and teach you how to interpret your experiences. What do your parents base their teachings on? Of course on their own experiences. I remember about twenty-five years ago bar codes were introduced in South Africa. There were people who said that these bar codes were a sign that the world was getting out of hand, and some people were even adamant that the bar codes were "the sign of the devil". At the time I knew very little about retail management and logistics and computers. However, I was curious enough to find out what the reasons behind using bar codes were. I quickly made up my mind that they are practical, that it is a logical step forward, and that the devil will not catch me if I eat anything that was marked with a barcode. **End Summary** Topics: judgement]]> moral]]> different]]> self-employed]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE new start audit and a FREE Food for Thought subscription.

Whatever you do, don't leave the church

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:59:19 -0400

No, I have not suddenly been converted and become a church goer. I don't know if you have noticed how organised religion keeps compromising in an effort to keep people in the church. I am not referring to one specific religion either. If you are part of the religion, these compromises are probably the most logical thing to do. However, looking in from the outside, sometimes I can only shake my head. I remember many years ago, in the 70's, the furore that women caused in my congregation by actually going to church with a bare head. The rule was that a woman had to cover her head when entering a church, but a man had to take his hat off. Why? What is wrong with a woman's hair? And why the different treatment for men and women? But the church could not stop the trend and had to change the rule. Today women go to church without hats. Recently my partner and I went into the cathedral in Cologne, and he was instructed by a stern-faced cleric to remove his golf cap. **End Summary** Topics: Hindu]]> Christian]]> Jewish]]> Anglican]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is a professional transition coach, helping individuals and companies to achieve their personal and commercial objectives. What is the one thing which is consuming all your energy at the moment? Visit www.elsabesmit.com for a FREE problem identification audit and a FREE Daily Reflection.

Should Ronnie Biggs repent?

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:57:53 -0400

In 1963, Ronnie Biggs was one of a gang that stole millions of pounds from a mail train between Glasgow and London. He was caught and sentenced to prison. A year into his prison service, he escaped and fled to France where he underwent plastic surgery. From there he fled to Australia where his family joined him. They lived there for about three years. During that time he received an anonymous letter indicating that Interpol was on his trail, and he moved with his family from Adelaide to Melbourne. I wonder who wrote that letter and why? In 1969 the police were closing in on him, and he escaped to Brazil. In 1974 he was discovered in Brazil, but he was not extradited to England. There were two reasons for this. England had no extradition agreement with Brazil, and by this time Ronnie Biggs had a Brazilian girlfriend who was pregnant. Brazilian law did not allow for the parent of a Brazilian child to be extradited. **End Summary** Topics: Ronnie Biggs]]> justice]]> mercy]]> Brazil]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides professional transition coaching and psychic readings. See www.elsabesmit.com

Can we heal the world with Love?

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:17:02 -0400

Hello lovely people Justice or mercy? The more emotional the issue, the more divided the opinions. Should we insist on justice, knowing that justice always have consequences? Should we show mercy and always try and understand the other side of the coin? Or should public opinion be the determining factor? In the past weeks a number of these emotional issues have been in the headlines. In May Burma's military regime jailed and charged the pro-democracy opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, because a man swam across a lake to her house. She is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest and faces a possible five years in prison. She has been confined to her house for 13 of the past 19 years. Is that not a form of imprisonment as well? The fuss is not about her being in prison, but about her exchanging one kind of prison for another without having any say in the matter because she stands for democracy. Where is the justice in punishing her for the actions of another person? But could there possibly be another side to this argument? **End Summary** Topics: Guantanamo Bay]]> Aung San Suu Kyi]]> ubuntu]]> Nazi war criminals]]> Tiananmen Square]]> Joe Vitale]]> zero limits]]> Ihaleakala Hew Len]]> ho\'oponopono]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides professional transition coaching and psychic readings. See www.elsabesmit.com

Let's Play Soldiers

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:42:42 -0400

I have been bothered about the fuss over the deaths of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan for a long time, but could not quite put my finger on the reason for feeling bothered about it. Was my concern about the fact that people died? Not really. People die, and that is a law of nature. People choose to die in many different ways, and that is destiny. Was my concern about soldiers dying in a war? No. This was more sadness about the choices that these soldiers made. But then they planned the blueprints for their lives before they came into this world. They had reasons to plan dying in a war. We have to respect their choices, even if we do not understand them. Was my concern about soldiers dying far from home? No again. Where a person dies far from loved ones, the focus should really be on the loved ones, because they are left with questions and grief. The soldier is gone and taken care of in another dimension. I was also more irritated than concerned about the fuss in the press regarding the number of soldiers that have died recently. **End Summary** Topics: war]]> Iraq]]> Afghanistan]]> bereavement]]> soldiers]]> death]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides life transition counselling and psychic readings.

Let there be light - and there was Obama

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The Universe is about balance. People and this world are about division and separation. The news media show us the beautiful dance of separation on a daily basis. For example, president Obama shows off his excellent eye-hand coordination by swatting a fly while being interviewed on television. The world is in awe of a president that can kill flies with his own hands - what was that again about small things amuse small minds? PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are upset because a fly was killed publicly by a prominent person who thinks he is Buddha. I recently heard a radio interview where one person complained about the blasphemous use of the name of God on television and radio. The person was quite adamant that the broadcaster had to act to root out this blasphemy which was quite offensive to Christians. Another person objected against the word blimey, because he had been told that the word originated from the expression "God blind me" and therefore the word blimey must also be blasphemous. Why is it that Christians always sound so whining when they complain about how unfairly the world treats them? **End Summary** Topics: Universe]]> balance]]> Obama]]> God]]> freedom of speech]]> Jesus]]> Jewish]]> quantum mechanics]]> fermions]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides life transition counselling and psychic readings. See http://www.elsabesmit.com

Did Michael Jackson die because of foul play?

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400

It is always interesting to see how people respond to death. The reaction is often so predictable, even though people that lose a loved one believe that the experience is so unique that nobody will understand them. Of course the latest example is the passing of Michael Jackson. The first, very predictable response was denial. When the news broke, over sixteen million people did not believe what they had heard and turned to the internet to get the right facts and confirmation. The impact was so much that for nearly half an hour Google believed that they were under attack from a computer virus or spyware application. This denial was also confirmed in the typical responses of "I cannot believe he is gone," "I have tickets for his concert and he was preparing for that last week," "He cannot be gone", "when I dealt with him he was lucid, and he never took painkillers", and so on. Why would people rush to confirm the death of a very public figure that was loved as much as he was despised? This is typical of the fight or flight reaction that goes with a shock to the base chakra. **End Summary** Topics: base chakra]]> sacral chakra]]> solar plexus chakra]]> heart chakra]]> throat chakra]]> brow chakra]]> third eye]]> Michael Jackson]]> painkillers]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides life transition counselling and psychic readings. See http://www.elsabesmit.com

Our shadow selves make bad decisions

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Have you ever been in a position where you made a decision because you felt at the time that you had to, even though your mind was woolly and the world was unreal? I am sure you lived to not only regret that decision, but also to ask yourself "What had gotten into me when I decided that?" And it is possible that at the time you were recently traumatised, for example being widowed, walking away from a very destructive relationship, being forced to leave a job, and so on. Such experiences often uproot our entire existence, and turn our world upside down. While we are grasping at anything that may look like the old reality that we knew before, the world keeps turning and changing. We hold on for dear life, wishing the world would just for a moment stop turning so that we can get our footing back again. However, the world keeps turning, and we have to make decisions about various things, from what to wear today to whether I should sell my house and move to the other side of the country. **End Summary** Topics: shadow self]]> trauma]]> emotion]]> emotions]]> limiting decisions]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides life transition counselling and psychic readings. See http://www.elsabesmit.com

A warning about blackmailing mediums

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The internet is an amazing tool for breaking down artificial boundaries such as time and space. Instant communication with a person on the other side of the world is a marvel that has brought home to us how small the world really is and how irrelevant time is in the greater scheme of things. Internet communication has also assisted in breaking down the boundaries of space, because on the web there are no space limitations. What has this got to do with mediumship? People who have had a glimpse of eternity understand that time and space are man-made concepts. These concepts apply on earth so that we can make sense of our environment. Once we understand this, it becomes clear how mediums and psychics can tap into the quantum soup of the unconscious and use email to convey the results to their paying clients. Unfortunately, as with any technological development, there are always people that exploit for their own benefit. There is nothing wrong with asking for and obtaining a psychic reading over the internet. A true psychic will (always with the permission of the client) find a link to the information that needs to be channelled to the client. **End Summary** Topics: medium]]> psychic]]> clairvoyant]]> psychic reading]]> clairvoyant reading]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit provides psychic readings on http://www.elsabesmit.com/readings.html

Faceboook and ministerial expenses - our common enemy

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

I have found a way to do exactly as I please and get away with it. It is so simple that I cannot believe I have never used it before. All I have to do is point to someone who may be remotely associated with me, and say "They made me do it". I have excellent examples of where this has worked. The first example is the parliamentary expenses system in the UK. Ministers who are entrusted with the welfare of people were caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar. Their claims for expenses range from a church donation for a Battle of Britain memorial service (attending the service was part of the job) to a floating duck pond (essential for impressing constituents) to a bath plug (that one is obvious) to an antique fireplace (returning to grassroots politics?), and the saga continues. So far seventeen government ministers have resigned as a result of the expenses saga. Why did these politicians claim expenses for items that one could only shake one's head about? Because they could. Because they tried and got away with it. **End Summary** Topics: parliament]]> expenses]]> politicians]]> charity]]> Facebook]]> constipation]]> indigestion]]> ulcers]]> irritable bowel syndrome]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is the author of the blog http://www.mypurpleblog.com , Spiritual interpretations of everyday life.

Tarot and the flat earth society

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Imagine this: It is the year 1492. You are Christopher Columbus and you have just discovered that when you stand on the beach, you can see waves, but when you stand on a cliff you can see the ocean but no waves. Did the waves disappear? No, of course not. You simply changed your vantage point and that made you see a lot more. This got you thinking. You noticed that when you approach a blind hill, it looks like the top of the hill is the end of the earth. But when you get to the top of the hill, you discover that the road continues into the horizon. This makes you feel really brave. You continue to walk, expecting to reach the end of the earth any day. But the road ends on another beach. Now you are really curious. You build yourself a nice big boat, and you decide to sail on the sea until you either reach land or fall off the earth. A few months later you return triumphantly and tell people about the land you discovered. You even show them specimens of the strange fruit and animals you discovered on this distant land. **End Summary** Topics: tarot]]> spiritual]]> spiritual growth]]> church]]> heretic]]> Ptolomy]]> Pythagoras]]> symbols]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is the author of the blog http://www.mypurpleblog.com , Spiritual interpretations of everyday life.

My Friend is Shattered by Widowhood

Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400

There are few life events that are as life-shattering as suddenly becoming widowed - especially if you are not yet at the right age (whatever that may be) to become widowed. Dealing with the practical arrangements of a funeral or cremation and the paperwork related to the estate are often the easy parts. However, even these actions can add to the immense turmoil of emotions that suddenly explode when a beloved partner passes. If the partner was not necessarily a beloved and there is the additional trauma of an abusive relationship that has suddenly ended, it is no wonder that some people become unable to function and do even the most simple things. Many recently widowed people are at first unaware of the immense anger that they radiate. They like to believe that their friends avoid them because the friends do not understand or no longer want them as friends. But consider this: have you ever been introduced to a person and immediately felt, for no good reason that you do not want to be in the presence of this person? **End Summary** Topics: widow]]> widowed]]> grief]]> grieving]]> friendship]]> intuition]]> intuitive]]> aura]]> unconscious]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Elsabe Smit is the author of a soon to be published book on coping with widowhood. See http://www.askaboutdeath.com for a survey and a free ebook titled "Death - and After?"