THE DIGITAL DIET

Ten Digital Diet Rules to Live By
From THE DIGITAL DIET By Daniel Sieberg



1. Avoid tech turds. Don’t just dump your smart phone on the table at a restaurant or at home. Keep it in your pocket or purse unless it’s critical to have it out. If you must have it out, acknowledge its presence and inform your companions that you’ll check it only in an emergency. It’s a courtesy that you’d appreciate, too.

2. Live your life in the real world. If you must post a status update or tweet or blog about something in your life, then make sure it’s something you’d be willing to announce to anyone you know face to face.

3. Ask yourself whether you really need that gadget. There are tons of cool stuff in the tech world, and some of it might even improve your or your family’s life, but don’t feel compelled to buy every new toy that comes out. Before you make a digital purchase, question its necessity.

4. Seek tech support. Navigating the wilds of the wired world can sometimes be too much to handle alone. It’s okay to ask for help and it’s also okay to use technology to help “outsource self control” when needed. Check out the many programs that can assist with budgeting your time online.

5. Detox Regularly. Once you’ve completed the Digital Diet, return to the detox phase one day a month. You can do this as a family, too. Use that day as a touchstone to remember what life can be like without technology.

6. Sleep device-free: Move your chargers out of the bedroom to another room in the house, and let your devices live there overnight. They need a break from you, too.

7. It’s either the human or the device. Work toward choosing people over the device. Yes, there’ll be times when it’s tricky or nearly impossible to choose between your smart phone or laptop and paying attention to your child or your loved one or your friend, but try to use your devices more on your own time rather than during the time you share with others.

8. Remember the “if /then” principle. Choices that you make in the virtual world can have an impact in the real one. For example, if you don’t find the time to put down the gadgets and log out once in a while, then you might lose the ability to appreciate the finer moments in life.

9. Structure your e-day. Work toward a finite beginning and end to your connectedness. In other words, dive into the gadgets and the e-mail and the texts only when you’ve composed yourself in the morning. When you’re ready to unplug in the evening, do it without reservation and focus on what—and who—is immediately around you.

10. Trust your instincts. If you think you might be spending too much time being a voyeur on social networks or playing online games or endlessly texting, then you probably are. That little voice knows when it’s all become too much. Listen to it. Pursue the ultimate goal of balance and awareness.

For much more information about Daniel Sieberg and The Digital Diet: The 4-Step Plan to Break Your Tech Addiction and Regain Balance in Your Life visit http://www.danielsieberg.com/. For your own copy, visit http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Diet-4-step-addiction-balance/dp/0307887383 (print) and http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Diet-addiction-balance-ebook/dp/B004J4WM3G (Kindle)

And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones

As a part of her blog tour I asked if Susan would share some insights about her new book.In her memoir, And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones, Susan Avitzour uses narrative, poetry, and a journal to grapple with the profound personal, philosophical, and spiritual questions raised by her eighteen-year-old daughter’s illness and death from leukemia. Ultimately, she faces the challenge many of us must confront in the course of our own lives: How to affirm faith and love in an unpredictable, often cruel, universe.

My daughter, Timora, was diagnosed with leukemia just after her twelfth birthday, and left this world shortly after her eighteenth. Those years took her on a remarkable spiritual journey, which I’d like to share with you today.
Timora’s spirituality combined a relationship with the God she’d been brought up to believe in with a more universal connection to the divine cosmic energy that sustains all life. The memoir I’ve written, And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones, tells how she came to me one day with a thoughtful look:
“‘You know, Eema,’ she said, ‘I used to be really angry with God. I couldn’t understand why He seemed to be ignoring my prayers.’
I put down the book I’d been reading, and moved a little closer.
‘Last year, on [the Jewish holiday of] Shavuot, I got so mad that I started screaming at Him. I said that He was stingy and mean, that He wasn’t helping me even though He could.’
I remembered that time well. She’d been weak and depressed, hurting all over. Sores burned her mouth every time she tried to eat, and made every bite taste revolting. She was sleeping even worse than usual, and was haunted by bizarre, obsessive dreams.
I put my hand on hers. What could I say?
‘... You know what happened then?’
I shook my head, still mute.
‘I lay down, and suddenly I started to feel a wave of new strength filling me, flowing into my blood. I told God I’d make a deal with Him. He’d go easier on me, and I’d stop being so angry at Him. That night I was able to get out of bed and say to myself, I won’t sink into this cesspool. I can be strong, I do have someone to give me the strength to live like a person. And I will, and that’s that.’”
Timora later discovered Reiki, a Japanese healing art that teaches its practitioners to become vessels through which spiritual energy flows into people who are suffering. It helped her so much that she eventually became a practitioner herself, laying hands both on herself and on other people, whose discomfort she delighted in alleviating.
Timora departed this world much as she had dwelled in it, in deep connection with the spiritual forces that animate it. As I relate in my memoir, her Reiki teacher visited her in the hospital a few days before she died.
“As Edna touched Timora and the energy flowed between them, Edna felt, through her fingertips and deep inside herself, that part of Timora’s soul was already on the way to the next world. Another part of her spirit was lingering behind – hesitating to leave us because she was worried about us, not wanting to cause us pain – but at the same time longing to be released.
As the energy between them intensified, Edna experienced herself as being together with Timora, in a corridor suffused with light unlike any she’d ever seen or sensed. The corridor led toward an even stronger, more beautiful light, which could not then – and cannot now – be depicted in words, but seemed to be the source, expression and richness of everything that is Good.
When Edna removed her hands and said her last farewell to Timora’s earthly form, she was left with a feeling she can only describe as a kind of completeness, a fullness. This feeling, she says, has not entirely left her to this day. Timora gave her an incomparable gift: Having experienced those few minutes of light together with Timora’s spirit, Edna now knows in the deepest sense possible that she has nothing to fear from the other side.
After her release (Edna tells me) Timora’s spirit did not stay away for long, and soon returned to become a kind of spiritual guide and teacher. Every so often, she comes to Edna during Reiki sessions, and Edna sometimes asks her for help and guidance. When she comes, she adds her own spiritual energy to the currents of Reiki moving through Edna’s hands, making them that much more powerful as agents of healing.”
I believe that God provides us with a well of strength that we can draw upon to go on, even to help others, despite life’s – and death’s – trials and tragedies. We may draw from this well through prayer, or receive it in the form of the energy that Reiki teaches us to harness or, doubtless, in other ways I haven’t discovered. This strength, this continually replenished energy, is none other than God’s healing presence in our hearts.

To learn more about Susan Avitzour, author of And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones, we invite you to visit her site - http://www.fiveyearslater.blogspot.com. For the full virtual tour schedule, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2011/01/06/twice-the-marrow-virtual-tour/

How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sandy Sims about his new book: How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin And Changed The Way I Think About Thinking, A Creative Thinking Blue Print For the 21st Century. I thin you will all enjoy the interview and enjoy the book even more!


"As we approach the much talked about 2012, humanity as a whole is confronted by a climate of fear that may very well create/manifest all that is least desired in the misinterpreted prophecies of the likes of Nostradamus, the Hopi and the Mayans."

What is the role of the individual in either creating a negative/positive environment for themselves and others?

(Sandy)I feel it is all about individuals first taking care of themselves so that they can assist others. Learning what to think about and how is the critical issue. There is a saying that the quality of our lives is determined by the questions we ask. Asking questions with intent sets the process in motion. For example: “What are my gifts? How can I best use these? How can I be happy? The answers may not appear immediately, but they do come, and when they do one must summon the determination to act.

The real challenge occurs when people become overwhelmed with circumstances that they lose this focus and begin blaming their personal condition on the environment. They lose l contact with their personal power.


Will an environment of social, economic, political and religious turmoil increase the likelihood of more societal problems?

(Sandy)I feel we really don’t have a good grasp on this. The immediate surface answer would be yes. There will be those that resist changing, and there will be those promoting it. This dynamic tension will most likely always exist. Yet if we see more conscious awareness developing, then the over all movement will be to improve society.

I believe the Dalai Lama was once asked how he viewed the 20th century with all of the wars and bloodshed. He answered by saying that on balance it had been the best century when you look at number of lives, the standard of which, had improved worldwide.  It is the nature of the challenge now that is important. We seem to be facing structural changes as opposed to just cyclical ones: that is the thinking and structures in place to deal with economics, politics, education, global interdependence, etc. are all in search of new models.

If society does not view its problems holistically and fails to understand that you cannot separate economics from such things as climate change, human rights, environmental protection, etc. is there any hope that humanity will keep its position as the dominant species?

(Sandy) If you accept the idea that the human species has immense personal power potential and that we are connected as Rupert Sheldrake surmises through the morphogenetic field or collective unconscious, then we might say that all is possible, that we can change our consciousness. The issue at stake is how far we go towards the brink of some environmental disaster through nature or nuclear war that we cannot reverse. Then all bets would be off.  But I would venture to say that as long as man is on the planet with the knowledge gained so far, that even with an enormous set back, a wiser generation would emerge.

Humanity is facing a crisis; what can one person do?

(Sandy) I had the good fortune once to spend time with Eileen Caddy the co-founder of The Findhorn Community in Scotland, years ago addressing this very same question. Her comment was that each person is responsible for taking care of one person, themselves. If enough people can rise to that level of awareness they will be able to assist the less fortunate, disabled, sick, etc. In this regard she was referring to each person becoming aware of their own personal power through the proper use of their minds, which means practicing and developing their minds to accomplish the tasks in front of them.  This, of course, is the subject matter of the human potential movement.

Our 'times' are the culmination of synchronicities, is the future written or is their choice?

(Sandy) When you think about synchronicities as being meaningful coincidences it is extremely easy to imagine your connection with these synchronicities as messages from other consciousnesses. I like to think about these events as perhaps communication from your invisible partners. If this is indeed a reality then the future might not so much be written but explored jointly between ourselves and these partners. 




For more information about Sandy Sims and How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin And Changed The Way I Think About Thinking, A Creative Thinking Blue Print For the 21st Century, visit http://creativethinkingbook.com/ and visit this page to get the Amazon links http://creativethinkingbook.com/buy-your-copy/.  


Why I Wrote – How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin And Changed The Way I Think About Thinking, A Creative Thinking Blue Print For the 21st Century – Comments from Sandy Sims
Originally I knew this would be a story of interest to people who follow architecture. After reading Wright’s autobiography I had been struck by the idea that not only was he famous but his drawings at the time were selling at auction for the same price as those of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.  He had designed over 1,000 designs but some 500 remained unbuilt. In an “a ha” flash I imagined that a collection of Wright’s unrealized designs built in Hawaii would be stunning.
The pursuit of this idea was so compelling, that I innocently and naively began the journey, and what a journey it was. I was cordially invited into many of Wright’s private homes, to meet their owners, and to hear their stories.  I became friends with those in the Taliesin Fellowship, some of whom were the earliest apprentices to Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a rich journey. While in the beginning I was attracted to the financial rewards that might have accrued, I later became fascinated by the idea of what it would be like to live inside of the space created by both a mystic and a genius. I found out


Sandy Sims Bio –

Sandy Sims was raised and educated in the South.  After serving as Naval Officer and finishing graduate business school, he followed a dream to live in Honolulu where he built one of Hawaii's most successful advertising  agencies.

The crisis of personal health and business setbacks opened the way to larger spiritual dimensions including a long association with the Caddy family, founders of the Findhorn Spiritual Community in Scotland His book,”How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin And Changed The Way I Think About Thinking, A Creative Thinking Blue Print For the 21st Century,” is a memoir of his journey culminating in a 20 year project with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

He has collaborated with Psychiatrist, Kerry Monick MD, and authored Creative Thinking For The 21st Century, An Experiential Guidebook. Accepting the science that our intention does indeed affect the material world, it addresses what to be thinking about, how to shape these thoughts, and what might be the best way to avoid unintended consequences.

When not travelling, Sandy resides in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where you can find him writing, playing tennis, poking around with his camera and embracing a new culture.

A 3 Step Process to Transform a Crisis or Change from the Inside Out

How To Let Go of Negative Self-Judgments by Ronald A. Alexander, Ph.D.
Adapted from Dr. Ronald Alexander’s new book, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change (New Harbinger Publications, 2009).

Many people cling to the myth that those who are successful inevitably feel good about themselves and are free from self-doubt and insecurities. I’ve worked with many clients whose résumés, personal achievements, and reputations garner the deepest respect and admiration, yet their negative self-talk is often utterly brutal. Despite their low opinion of themselves, they’ve managed to fashion lives that many would envy. Yet the disconnection between their inner feelings about themselves and their outer success causes them to hold back from making changes that would lead to far greater fulfillment and peace of mind. They’ll remain in a stagnant situation until change is thrust upon them, and then feel overwhelmed by any crises that occur.

The Destructive Power of Negative Self-Judgments
No matter how accomplished we are, no matter how happy we may seem, we all hold on to negative self-judgments, and they hold on to us. They prevent us from discovering our power to change our lives for the better.  When we switch to more positive thought patterns, crisis stops being overwhelming, and it’s far easier to let go of resistance, tune in to our passions and inner resources, and move forward with confidence.
Positive thinking is indeed powerful, but don’t hold yourself to unrealistic standards and expect to quickly transform what are often lifelong thinking habits. The object is to stop assigning meaning to these self-judgments, because once you start to give them weight, they begin to weigh you down. Through the practice of mindfulness, you can learn to notice when you are tearing yourself down and begin to change your habit of self-criticism.

The Stories the Mind Spins
Often, the rational mind will string together a series of distortions. Instead of simply noticing “I am shy,” the mind will generate the thought, “I’m shy, which is why I’ll never find a romantic partner; my shyness makes me unattractive.” Another example might be someone who is out going spinning a disempowering story: “I’m an extrovert. My mother never liked that about me, and it seemed to embarrass my siblings. I probably made a fool of myself many times. I am too eager to connect to other people, who look down on me for being emotionally needy.” You may not even be fully aware that you’re embellishing your self-judgments in an unwholesome way.

Reframe Your Negative Self-Judgments
Through mindfulness practice and self-inquiry, you can render any negative self-judgments neutral and even see them in a far different light. To be “self-centered,” focused on resolving inner conflicts, can be perceived as negative, but it’s very important at times to direct your attention to yourself and your needs. If you feel that you are “callous,” you might reframe that quality as “courageous” or “bold.” If you see yourself as “weak,” consider thinking of yourself as someone who is sensitive to others’ feelings.
Here are some steps to help you mindfully reframe an unwholesome self-judgment that you know is of no use to you and that causes you anguish. It is beneficial to use a journal to work through each step.
1.    Identity and label the judgment. Give it a simple name or theme, such as “inadequate provider,” “insincere,” or “people pleaser.”
2.    Discover the quality of the judgment. Ask yourself, “What is this self-judgment causing me to think or feel about myself in this moment?” Does it make you feel ashamed, angry, or guilty, for example? Notice whether the feeling is wholesome and supportive of your well-being, or unwholesome, making it difficult for you to enter a state of spaciousness, openness, and trust.
3.    Find a remedy for the unwholesome thought or feeling. Ask yourself, “Would I like to think or feel something different? What thought or feeling could I generate to shift myself out of this unwholesome state?”
4.    Formulate a new thought, image, or feeling, and begin to hold on to it firmly. Experience it in your mind’s eye and in your body. Feel a wholesome sensation, such as relaxation, excitement, or expansiveness.
5.    Assess whether you’ve shifted. Ask yourself, “Have I shifted out of the feeling, state, or thought that was unwholesome and let go of my negative self-judgment?” If you have, then enjoy the new sensations, feelings, and thoughts you’ve generated as a remedy. If not, go back and repeat steps 1 through 4.
You may never totally rid yourself of your unwholesome self-judgments. However, you can alter their quality, learn from them, and either let them go or transform them so that they no longer block you from a sense of well-being, a feeling of spaciousness, and openness to new possibilities. Hidden gold will appear when you let go of your negative-judgments. The aspects of yourself you’ve been overlooking will ascend to your consciousness. Through mindfulness, you can discover these forgotten qualities that will inspire and vitalize you, and carry you through the rough waters of criticism to more placid waters.


Ronald Alexander, Ph.D. is the author of the widely acclaimed  book, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change. He is the director of the OpenMind Training® Institute, practices mindfulness-based mind-body psychotherapy and leadership coaching in Santa Monica, CA, for individuals and corporate clients. He has taught personal and clinical training groups for professionals in Integral Psychotherapy, Ericksonian mind-body healing therapies, mindfulness meditation, and positive psychology nationally and internationally since 1970. (www.openmindtraining.com). For full details about the Wise Mind, Open Mind virtual blog tour, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/09/08/wise-mind-open-mind-ronald-alexander/

HOW TO SUE A TELEMARKETER??

SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE

Telemarketers have been a pain in the general public’s behind for decades. Thanks to their interrupting us day and night, the telephone has been transformed from a convenience, into a source of annoyance and frustration.

How To Sue A Telemarketer: A Manual For Restoring Peace On Earth One Phone Call At A Time is a tongue-in-cheek manual that shows the average citizen how they can fight back against a telemarketer by taking them to small-claims court. Half humorous and half How to, How to Sue a Telemarketer combines comedy with savvy information about the legal system and step-by-step instructions on how consumers can sue telemarketers.

“I wrote How To Sue A Telemarketer for all the good, kind and ordinary people of the world who simply want to have a quiet dinner, or a beer and watch a basketball game, without getting interrupted by someone who doesn’t give a damn about them,” says Steve Ostrow, the books author and an attorney for over 30 years.

In addition to his work as an attorney, Steve has been seen on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel and The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a celebrity impersonator for the television character Kramer, of the famed Seinfeld television show. Just visualize Cosmo Kramer going to law school. How would he defend the public’s right to have some peace and quiet in their homes? This book is it. How To Sue A Telemarketer will comically take the reader through the process of:

• What to do when a telemarketer first calls
• Gathering information to file a civil complaint
• Filing and serving of the complaint
• What to do in court all the way through collection on the judgment
• Everything you need to know about suing telemarketers



How you can sue telemarketers:

How would you like to pick up an extra $1,000 in cash the next time an annoying telemarketer disrupts your dinner? Steve Ostrow, business attorney, celebrity impersonator and author of the new book How To Sue A Telemarketer: A Manual For Restoring Peace On Earth One Phone Call At A Time, can show you a step-by-step process for suing telemarketers and turning telemarketing harassment into cold, hard cash.

Using his knowledge of the small-claims court system and drawing on over 30 years of legal practice, including serving as a small claims judge in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, Steve has successfully sued, or settled, and won judgments against 10 telemarketers to the tune of $3,500. “I wrote this book to show the ordinary person how to sue telemarketers who are interrupting their quiet dinner at home,” says Ostrow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Born in New York City, Steve Ostrow did his undergraduate studies at The State University of New York, Buffalo. After backpacking throughout Europe for a year, he landed in Southern California where he graduated with honors from The Pepperdine University School of Law.

Since then, the courtroom has proven a natural setting for Steve’s East Coast wise-guy style. For the past 30 years, he has worked as a business and real estate attorney, combining his comic wit with a non-traditional law practice that helps clients assess both the emotional costs of legal matters and the financial and business implications.

A former trial lawyer, Ostrow has served as a small claims judge in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, received his license as a real estate broker, worked as a real estate investor and facilitated over 200 clients (both lenders and borrowers) through the foreclosure process, advising them on all aspects of the procedure.

“My job is to help clients understand their choices,” says Ostrow. “What I do that other lawyers don’t is point out the bigger picture, which involves certain emotions. People often have such a sense of failure around foreclosure, but I assist clients in seeing that the outcome matters less than how they go through the process. Ultimately they need to do what will serve their life the best, while avoiding a war with lenders and unforeseen legal battles.”

In addition to his work as an attorney, Steve has served on the board of the Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters, Canine Companions for Independence, and Eveoke Dance Theater. He has even worked as a celebrity impersonator based on the television character Kramer, played by actor Michael Richards on the famed Seinfeld television show.

A graduate from the Rick Stevens School of Improvisation in San Diego, and an award- winning Toastmaster, Steve has achieved success in the celebrity look-alike and improvisational worlds. In his first year of improvisational comedy, International Celebrity Images presented him with the prestigious Reel Award for Big Mouth Comedy for his Kramer impersonations. He has performed at conventions across the globe and made appearances on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In his capacity as both a lawyer and a celebrity impersonator, Steve has been interviewed by The San Diego Union, The San Diego Weekly Reader, Duke Magazine in Australia, the Long Beach Telegram, and Las Vegas Magazine.

Never one to quit while he was ahead, Steve’s latest adventure is as the author of the new book How To Sue A Telemarketer: A Manual For Restoring Peace On Earth One Phone Call At A Time.

“I wrote this book for all the good, kind and ordinary people of the world who simply want to have a quiet dinner, or a beer and watch a basketball game, without getting interrupted by someone who doesn’t give a damn about them,” says Ostrow. “My book shows the reader how to sue telemarketers step by step.”

To date, Steve has successfully sued, or settled, won and collected, over 10 judgments against telemarketers.
Today, Steve works out of his law office in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, where he manages to blend a lifestyle of being both a



http://howtosueatelemarketer.com/