Direct Answers - Column for the week of December 23, 2002 My girlfriend has an aggressive sense of humor. She teases and likes to parry put-downs. She says it is all in fun, and it is very important that she can joke with her partner. She thinks I am thin-skinned and overly sensitive ...

Direct Answers - Column for the week of December 30, 2002 Kendra and I have been dating almost six years. For the past three years I have constantly asked myself if she is the one. I can never come up with the answer. I fantasize about being with other women, and it is not because Ke ...

Direct Answers - Column for the week of January 6, 2003 What can a couple say and do when they have been late in getting wedding thank yous out to people We have been married two years, with two separations among other serious challenges, and finally want to send cards. At the same ti ...

Wildflowers grow from mere dust to reach their full potential. Wildflowers grow well, even in adverse soil conditions. Wildflowers don't require late nights at the office to grow. Wildflowers grow thick and stick together. Wildflowers grow strong and tall. Wildflowers display their ...

Inspiration without application improves nothing, benefits no one and fans the flames of mediocrity! Paul Shearstone 2002 2003.Got Goals By Paul Shearstone Ask anybody on January 2nd 2003 if they have New Years Resolutions or goals and nine out of ten will say, "Yes!" ...Ask the s ...

Have you ever had one of those flashes of inspiration Have you ever just had one of those "knowings" down in the pit of your stomach No, I don't mean after a big bowl of beans. That's not what I'm talking about. Ever had something flash across your mind and looked like a puddy cat Read o ...

Sometimes things happen in life for apparently no reason at all. You think that there isn't any reason for something to happen until after the fact when that something has changed your life or pointed you into a new direction. Two seemingly totally opposite things can happen to you one ...

Direct Answers - Column for the week of January 13, 2003 I am recently divorced from a destructive narcissist. His infidelity, coupled with a lack of remorse for the havoc caused to our family, was the last straw. This crisis drove me to discover much about myself that needs repairing ...

Yea, I know........I hear you saying "that's easy for you to say".! Well......why don't you just pout about it then You know, I want to tell you a funny story about a salesperson in a BIG slump. This person I actually trained before she moved on to another job many years ago. You'll like ...

FENG shui (say "fung shway") is the art of creating a home environment that supports the life you wish to live. A key element of feng shui is creating a smooth flow of chi (positive energy) through your space. Chi likes to move through your home as though it were a gentle breeze or a mea ...

When you begin to study feng shui, you quickly realize the importance of the qualities and characteristics of the five feng shui elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. This knowledge is essential to selecting appropriate colors, furnishings, and accessories for your home. You can ...

Direct Answers - Column for the week of January 20, 2003 I was recently looking through some old photos when I found some of an ex-boyfriend when he was a child. I remember him telling me at the time these were the only photos that exist of him as a child, and that these are the only c ...

Direct Answers - Column for the week of January 27, 2003 I have been involved with a married man for a little while. I am married myself, but it was an arranged marriage and I am very unhappy. I stay with my husband because of culture and my small children. Because I was miserable I ...

Honorably and ethically rid yourself of burdensome debts using the little known Negotiation Strategy, without having to experience the loss of control and privacy associated with filing for bankruptcy, consolidation, or credit counseling. The inability to reduce debt and saving money ar ...

Viagra. That one word packs a lot of punch. Let's face it; there is little that has been derided more than Viagra. On the talk shows, it has been the butt of more jokes than Michael Jackson and Saddam Hussein combined. For example: (OK, OK. I admit I was going to share an example or ...

Every time you get in your car to go anywhere, you are working on achieving a goal. There is somewhere you want to be, so you take action to get there. The three major things that get you where you want to go when driving are a specific destination, directions for getting there, and a ...

I want to relate to you a story, READ it carefully; for in it lay the hidden secrets of the great mystery of the super successful. There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with th ...

With the beginning of a new year, are you happy with your life the way it is now You just set new goals and resolutions for 2003 but are you satisfied with where you are now This is a serious question that you need to ask yourself. You can't get to where you're going if you don't know ...

What would your life be like if you kept doing everything the same way If you stood still for the next 10 or 20 years and didn't make progress with anything If you stayed stuck in the same situations that you're in now If you stayed at the same job, with the same pay, lived at the sam ...

Your good name and your reputation are EVERYTHING! Protect them at all costs! my father used to say to me when I was a lad. Even at a young age, I knew there was something important in what my dad was trying to tell me. It was not hard to understand that if Billy Smith or Bobby Jones ...