- Quote This!

- Letters

- Beth's Announcements

- A little something for you

- The "word"
  from Xena

Other Links:

- Get your own copy of
Beth's Newsletter

Information Overload

  Try it!!

Information Overload

Information Overload got you numb?

Sometimes I get that way.

We were standing at a massive four-story window looking out on downtown Atlanta as Hurricane Dennis bore down on the gulf coast. It was raining furiously and there was a rumor that a tornado was about to hit nearby. Our hotel was packed with 2,500 professional speakers, so shyness was not one of our challenges.

We were all talking at once about this storm as though we were watching an IMAX screen. Suddenly a long, slow Missouri drawl broke into our conversation, "Yep, where I come from, we call that rotation." And he scooted off to a safer part of the hotel.

"Rotation," as in the edge of a tornado. The outer edge. The eye can't be far behind. And none of us had the presence of mind to move out of the way.

"It can't happen to me." "It won't happen here." "It isn't real." "That only happens on TV." You have had these conversations in your head. I KNOW I am not that different from you. We have muttered those things and watched reality as if it were a movie.

Why do bad things happen to good people? I don't have the answer to that, but I'd put money on it that occasionally bad things happen because we aren't paying attention. Or worse. We are numb. We have become a society of spectators. We watch so much TV, so many news shows, so many movies, that all of life begins to feel unreal.

Every once in awhile it is a good idea to notice you are numb to the craziness in the world. A constant barrage of media dulls its impact and your brain.

Try pulling back for a moment. Turn off the radio, the TV, and put down the newspaper. Take a deep breath. Allow yourself to integrate all you have absorbed. You can go back to it soon enough.

It is healthy to take a "brain integration break" now and again. I just stop and stare out the window or at a blank wall for awhile. Now don't do this at work unless you have an understanding boss! It will increase your creativity if you pull away from the project at hand from time to time. But some bosses don't understand this and I don't want you to lose your job!

So, breathe, pull back and see what reality is, and take care of yourself...

We need you!

Gandhi's Seven Blunders

Gandhi called The Seven Blunders the "passive violences" which fuel the "active violences" of hatred, racism, crime and war.

1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience.
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principles

* Arun, Ghandi's grandson, added "Rights without Responsibilities"

Ghandi advocated bringing these opposing values into balance rather than denying one over the other. He believed that life situations are fluid and dynamic and do not lend themselves to simple resolution.

"Dear Beth,
Thank you for your words of wisdom. When I read your stories I think of the time you came to speak for the Bridal Association (Kim Horn) up near Prescott last fall. You were funny and very entertaining. I couldn't stop giggling. Thank you for you!
Sweet Dreams,
Barbara"

Announcements:

1. Beth will be in Hawaii twice in August and still has a couple of mornings open for training. Currently, she is also scheduled to be there in September and December, so plan to get on her schedule while there is still time. Beth is also presenting at the ASAE Convention in Nashville in August. Be sure to stop by her presentation if you are attending! Contact Beth if you would like her to speak to your group --- Hurry - she gets booked fast!


2. We are still having our inventory clearance! Beth's books are great for grads, brides, newlyweds, people dealing with loss and change. Buy a couple of these first editions now at clearance prices and SAVE! You can keep them on hand for last minute gifts!
   You will need a special code to get this deal. . Go to the order page and type 2383479 in the special code box or click here for promo pricing!


3. This archive has me on webTV: http://www.thebusinesstalkshow.com/tv.html This archive has me on internet radio: http://www.thebusinesstalkshow.com/archives.html

Something you can do right now to get out of overwhelm…

Still not sure if that email is legit? (no, Bill Gates doesn't want to send you money!)
Check it out at http://www.snopes.com

Looking for some more creative search engines? With kids going back to school, some of these may come in handy

http://www.answers.com An encyclopedia database

http://www.zabasearch.com Consolidates public data bases to find people

http://www.oodle.com This is a portal to classified ad sites

http://www.kayak.com Travel site

http://www.teoma.com A great web crawler

It is 117 degrees out today. Did you read that? 117! What on earth was Beth thinking when she brought us here? I----WEAR---FUR! And, since I had that surgery to "fix me" a weird thing happened, my fur exploded like a Chia Pet! It is really really thick and bushy and hot now!

Beth always jokes that it's me and Lezard's fault for us moving here. She says it's because we used to sneak up and whisper in her ear while she slept, "We want to move close to our home country." Well, San Diego is closer and cooler. So THAT doesn't explain Phoenix!

See, supposedly the ancient Chihuahuas were from Mexico or even further south. Beth says we were bred for food, but she only says that when she's mad 'cuz I didn't make it outside in time. Then she says she thinks we were in-bred with cats. How rude! Just because I wash my face like a cat doesn't mean I am one. Besides, I have more panache than a cat!

But Lezard, he's another story. He isn't even from this planet. And Beth doesn't realize his real name is "YV˘?3?", not Lezard. He's a strange one, that guy. He always pretends to be asleep when Beth leaves, but as soon as the car pulls out of the garage, he's on her chair surfing the internet all day. It's like that movie, "phone home, phone home!"

It isn't easy being a watchdog in this house!

Well, keep cool.

I'm sleepin' till August!

Click here to email me (Xena)! (You don't think humans are the only ones to get fan mail do you?)

[Editors note: Attitudes and advice given out by Chihuahuas do not reflect the opinions of management. However, in the interest of political correctness and recognition of multi-canine diversity, we will let her speak her mind. We are not responsible if you take her advice.]