On My Own Steam

By Gary Vaughn

 When you have been in the “wild” for a number of days without a bath or a shave, how do you feel? Pretty raunchy, right? You’re totally ready to wash all that gunk off of you and start to resemble a normal human being again. Well, the same is true for your dog, up to a certain point.

Yes, it’s true that dogs don’t have a system of logic going on in their brains that tells them that they smell bad. Neither do you. Yours is a learned behavior. Early man stunk, folks. He was ripe all the time and everyone just accepted this. It was a part of the daily routine. Just like your dog. Man is the only species that does not react simply out of instinct or habit alone. He can reason. That’s what makes us the highest species. Believe it or not, dogs can reason too, especially after a grooming.

Tony Roettger, of Spaniel Journal, says that if a thing can be trained, such as a dog, it can reason. Maybe the reasoning is on a lower level than humans but it can reason and the more it is forced to reason, the better it gets and the more frequently it uses reasoning to make decisions, the more evident it becomes. Reasoning is a form of conditioning, is it not and vice versa. Conditioning is a form of reasoning.

With that said, let us do some reasoning of our own. When a person takes their dog to the groomer’s shop and the dog is given the full treatment, including bath,haircut, nails trimmed appropriately, nails polished, ribbons in the hair (in some cases) and a doggie perfume or cologne placed on them, they probably hate the entire affair because they don’t have the capability to reason the reason for what they’re going through; however, what is your reaction when you pick them up from the groomers? You’re usually very excited, you talk to the dog and tell them how good they look, your voice conveys approval and happiness. So, what do you think the dog may be reasoning here?

Our guess is that the animal, after being groomed and receiving your obvious gratuities and love begins to understand that this grooming process, which he hates, brings accolades and love from his owner so how bad can it really be? He knows that he’s not going to be harmed so he begins to associate the grooming process with your love and attention. Hey, even men do this type of reasoning, right?

So, the question is not so much, “do they know they’re being groomed,” but rather, “do they associate the grooming with good feelings and do they feel good about themselves once they are groomed?”

The truth is, your dog may not actually “like” the grooming process but they accept it. They probably associate your attention with the process although they don’t have any idea why you’re happy. They just know you are and if you’re happy, that’s ok with them because they love you, unconditionally.

So, don’t hesitate to get your dog groomed frequently from a reputable and highly touted groomer. They make you feel good about your dog and the dog can feel that because…he reasons it out. And you want him to feel good because you love him, right?

Gary Vaughn is a Master RN with many valuable years of experience. Marketing health care and dieting products is one of his specialties. He also has an interest in pets and dog training. His website is located at

Dog Groom-Room.com,a power information resource for dog grooming information.

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By Mercedes Oestermann van Essen

 If you have been told, or worse still, firmly hold the belief that making money has to do with talent and outside circumstances, you are betting on the wrong horse. What’s more, your failure in the world of making money is almost certainly guaranteed, particularly in today’s tough environment. The pre-suppositions of talent, luck and the like are old wife’s tales and hold no truth what so ever. In fact, scientific evidence points into a very different direction.

Recent scientific studies show clear evidence that only around 20percent of our so called talents are inherited. Environmental factors, such as geopathic stress and EMR, electro magnetic radiation, may play a much larger role in your ability to make money and further success in other areas of your life too.

Quantum physics explains how particles of an observed object change with the observer. And there are the famous water experiments by Masaru Emoto that show that water molecules change with our emotions.

It is beyond the scope of this article to go into all these findings in detail, suffice it to say though that there is abundant evidence that our thoughts literally make our world. Success in life is not directly dictated by outside circumstances, as many of us believe, but your outside circumstances are attracted to you through your thinking.

In other words: You will always get what you focus on and how you focus dictates the results you are getting in your life. This simple statement is naturally true of your financial situation as well.

Successful people have always known about the number one of manifestation principles and know how to apply their mind to get what they want.

It has never been more important than today to learn and understand these principles and practice them each day to become a master at using them. This is your guarantee that will see you through an extended bear market which is likely to run for several years yet.

So, where do you start? In order to focus on a desired outcome you need to be able to notice how your mind works. The technique of witnessing your thoughts and feelings is also referred to as witnessing. When you learn to become the witness of your thoughts and actions you are beginning to expand your cognitive awareness. Expanding your cognitive awareness is the key to focusing correctly. After all you can only change something if you are aware of it. And, you need to learn when to recognise when you are not focusing correctly.

There are many techniques that can help you to learn disciplined mind focus. Mediation is a great tool, alas many of us do not have the time for extended meditation practice. The next best thing are mental energy techniques which are combined with meridian stimulation. Micro EFT is such a technique and possibly one of the easiest to use and incorporate seamlessly into your daily routine. It only takes seconds to use and, provided it is used regularly, it is incredibly powerful and effective.

If you are familiar with energy techniques, you may have already heard of EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique. Micro EFT is an adaptation of EFT and uses regular micro stimulus to create macro results, similar to homeopathy. Instead of taking drops of some essence several times a day, you use mental stimulus several times during the day to train your mind and release unwanted thought patterns. Neutralising unwanted emotions clears the mind and lets you see how you are doing things that stop you from realising your goals.

I cannot stress enough, in times when the world is changing and the old ways we took for granted have stop working, we must grow and learn new ways of adjusting to these changes in order to survive. True changes always comes from within, it is never out there. So, work on yourself and learn to direct your mind correctly and unleash the many talents you have.

Mercedes Oestermann van Essen is a human development coach, energy therapist and author. She has created the

Happy Venn Diagram for environment, body and mind, a unique approach for happiness and success. Get your free report, 5 Little Known Keys To Happiness

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By Stanley Popovich

 It can be tough for business people with OCD to have to experience obsessive thoughts that are intrusive, scary, and difficult to manage. As a result, here is a short list of techniques that a person can use to help manage their obsessive and fearful thoughts.

The first thing a person must do is not to dwell or focus on the fear provoking thought when it comes. The more a person tries to reason out the thought or focus on the fear behind the thought, the stronger the thought becomes. The next time you encounter an obsessive thought, get into the practice of not dwelling on it.

From my interviews with various professionals, I’ve learned that usually it is the fear behind the thoughts that gets us worked up. Ignore the fear behind these obsessive thoughts, regardless how the strong the fear may be. If you ignore the fear behind these thoughts, then the thoughts become easier to manage.

A person should visualize a red stop sign in their mind when they encounter a fear provoking thought. When the negative thought comes, a person should think of a red stop sign that serves as a reminder to stop focusing on that thought and to think of something else. A person can then try to think of something positive to replace the negative thought.

Sometimes, a person may encounter a lot of scary thoughts coming at them all at once. Instead of getting upset, remember that these thoughts are exaggerated and are not based on reality. Even if your fearful thoughts tell you otherwise, the fact is that there are circumstances and factors in every situation that can not be anticipated. We may be ninety-nine percent in predicting the future but all it takes is for that one percent to make the biggest difference.

Although I am a Layman and not a professional, I have interviewed many counselors and I learned that there are many ways to deal with these kinds of thoughts. There are ways to deal with your obsessive thoughts and with the proper treatment, you can live a productive life.

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear” an easy to read book that presents a overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com

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Welcome to On My Own Steam.