Moon Bow Chaser

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Harrison Terrace in Indianapolis, Indiana formerly Wellington Manor is a one star rating nursing home according to Medicare.gov and boy do they have that right. One star means way below average according to Medicare’s standards and this nursing home certainly qualifies for way below average. It used to be a 3 star rating a couple of years ago, which is average. I have watched it go downhill, not that it was very good in the first place, but now it is horrible without much hope of it getting better anytime soon.

My mother has been in several nursing homes each one of them were awful and play the same sick twisted games that this one does. She doesn’t know much about what is going on at this point, since she has deteriorated quite a bit mentally and physically. She doesn’t know or understand who is neglecting her most of the time, as her dementia comes and goes, which means, some days she does know what happened and can remember names and situations and some she can’t.

The problem is that we, my sister and I, cannot care for mom at home due to work schedules and the issue of mom needing medically trained staff to care for her at all times. She had a stroke that paralyzed her left side and needs assistance with everything. She can no longer walk without someone beside her or go to toilet on her own or even get a cup of water. She is totally dependent upon someone else to do these things. It wasn’t always this way, but it is now and we have found that the more help mom needs the more she is neglected in the nursing home. Naturally, it should be the other way around, but this is not the case. If your family member or friend cannot fend for themselves they are in big trouble in this place.

There are some residents in the nursing home that can walk and do everything on their own or can manipulate their wheelchair or use a walker and their mind is still in tact. When this is the case they can fend for themselves and are not dependent upon the staff. However, once they lose the ability to not do things for themselves this is when they are neglected and care takes a nose dive.

One would think that you could do something about what is going on, but I have found that it is nearly impossible to prove what they (staff) have or have not done. This is due to them NOT documenting the neglect or abuse and is how they get by with what they do. It is how they cover up everything and stay in business. If I knew back 4 years ago what I know now things would have went much differently.

If you have a family member or friend in a nursing home then you need to know what to do from the beginning to protect them. The way you do it is by getting documentation; you must have it in writing. They may make all kinds of promises, but unless you have it in writing you won’t have a leg to stand on because they will deny, lie and back stab like you won’t believe. Not only this nursing home, but most all of them operate this way. They want complete CONTROL and will get it if you are not on top of everything.

I am talking about all aspects of the resident’s care such as therapy, medications, daily care plan, teeth, feet, diet and so forth. All they care about is their paperwork looking good NOT the best interest of the resident. I repeat they only care about making themselves look good NOT about the residents. I have found this out the hard way in 4 different nursing homes not just this one. This is why they are writing down all the special things that make them look good and NOT things like falls, bruises, open bleeding sores etc.

The first thing you must start doing right away is get documentation. When there is a concern or something you have discovered that is neglectful tell them you want it documented and that you want a copy of the documentation. Also, you must get a copy of the care plan in writing to back you up when confronting them with an issue that they promised to take care of, but are NOT following through on.

You need to understand that they will make verbal promises and smile and act as though they are your best friend. They can be very convincing until something goes down and then you will find out real quick where their loyalty lies and it’s not with the resident. You won’t believe the excuses and nonsense that they come up with.

I have heard it all and had many confrontations with staff, as well as management at each one of the nursing homes my mother has lived about their neglect. They may get better for about a week or so, but not long after, it’s back to the same old thing. It does no good to move her we have been there and done that. The ombudsman told us it is better to work it out where you are than to move to another nursing home and agreed that nursing homes were all about the same.

The bottom line is that when it is at all possible do what you can to keep your family member or friend at home, especially if they cannot fend for themselves for the most part. If you do move forward and place them in the nursing home then plan to be there EVERY day or else they are in big trouble and will suffer at the hands of incompetent aids and nurses who are underpaid, overworked and angry.

Even if you are there every day it will be hell and I can attest to this, since I am at the nursing home every day. They just broke my mother’s arm again for the 2nd time four weeks ago and it has been an awful ordeal for her and us. The aid who did it lied and they believe her over my mother because they say my mother has dementia, however, my mom knows exactly who did it AND how it happened and she will tell you if you ask her right now.

My mother has been through hell in this nursing home and others. They’re like torture chambers, they sit residents in wheelchairs for hours on end or keep them in the bed for as many hours without getting them up or changing their brief. Many times they only get them up to eat and that’s it. A few months ago mom had open bleeding sores from sitting in urine for hours and has had several urinary tract infections for the same reason.

We still find her lying in urine for hours and sometimes feces as well. However, it isn’t as long or as often, because we are now there every day and for longer periods of time. We have to be there or she will suffer and we know it, so there is no other choice. There is much more to write and I will be writing it, so stay tuned.

For now, if you’re having concerns you need to call the area ombudsman to learn what your rights and the residents rights are and what the nursing home can and cannot do. The nursing home may try to do things that they aren’t supposed to or threaten you with not being able to visit or even wrongfully evict you or the resident.

Harrison Terrace Indianapolis 9/7/2011

I left off at connecting with the ombudsman, which can help as well as hurt. The ombudsman is supposed to be an advocate for the nursing home residents. I have found, however, that this isn’t always the case, at least not with the ombudsman that I have been dealing with. They seem to be more of a mediator working on both sides of the fence and that to me isn’t an advocate for the resident. That said, they can be helpful in that you can learn the truth from them on your rights as well as the rights of the resident. The nursing home will lie and twist the truth in their favor.

The ombudsman also has the inside scoop on which nursing homes are good and which ones are not so good. This means that it would be a really good idea to speak with the ombudsman BEFORE you admit anyone into a nursing home. They are the ones who are called when there are problems in the nursing home, so they’re up to date on the lawsuits, complaints and reports to Board of Health on facilities in their area.

So much for the ombudsman for now. Let’s move along to staying on top of the resident’s care. One of the most important areas of the resident’s care are their medications. Always do research on the side effects, dosage and interactions with other medications. I have noticed that the nursing home doctors have way too many patients and consequently don’t pay much attention to individual cases. This alone WILL cause serious and unnecessary health problems. Someone of sound mind should have POA over the resident’s health concerns especially medications.

My sister and I have had many a fight with the nursing home doctors and nurses over my mother’s medications. They used to drug her up pretty bad until we started researching the meds online and put a stop to it. Many times she could not sit up or even talk she was so over medicated. As far as I am concerned every nursing home doctor I have had dealings with has either been incompetent or just didn’t take the time to get it right.

To add this the nursing home nurses many times do not chart the medications like they say and barely keep track of what is going on. I cannot count the times now that I have found my mother’s meds/pills in her pocket, under her pillow or some other place. This is supposed to be a big NO NO! They’re supposed to watch them take the meds, but if they are, then how are they appearing in all these places?

I am talking serious medications like blood pressure medication and others that are a matter of life and death. This happens all the time at Harrison Terrace, in fact, it just happened last week. I have reported it many times and just like all the other issues, nobody does anything. If they did, this nursing home from hell could maybe get back to a 3 star rating.

Before I go I would like to share the latest neglect issues of the past few days. Just so that you know weekends in the nursing home are the worst and this past Sunday was no exception. When I got there mom was in a lot of pain with her broken arm and the same aid that broke it was there supposedly taking care of her. Mom had told her to tell the nurse to bring pain medication, did she do it? NO she did not. Mom did not have ice water (it was very hot) and her cup was in eyesight, but out of reach. She was lying in urine that went 2 waterproof pads deep down to the mattress and her brief felt like it had a bucket of water dumped into it.

Needless to say there was a confrontation between me and the aid. It got heated, so she went to get the always incompetent day nurse, the one that DOES NOT watch mom take her meds. So, I told her about the lying excuses that the aid gave me and naturally she defended the aid like they always do there. Why I waste my time trying to get them to do the right thing I don’t know. Like I tell my sister; it will NEVER happen!

I can’t believe these people have the nerve to call themselves caregivers and health care professionals. All of management and staff that work at Harrison Terrace know about all of this and do nothing. In fact, they cover it up and deny daily what they see, it is not reported or documented. The worst part is that they could do something about it, but choose not to.

For those who are following my story it is all true every bit of it. I will continue to share what’s happening now as well as what has happened. Also, I’ll give more advice on how to keep neglect and abuse to a minimum. The best way I have found so far is to be there as much as possible.

Harrison Terrace Indianapolis- 9/9/2011

Just when you think it can’t get worse it does, but before I get into the latest neglect update I want to mention remodeling at Harrison Terrace since American Senior Communities has taken over. They have it looking good as far as outward appearances go, unfortunately this is where it ends. The remodeling is to lure people in and seems to be all they care about. The bottom line is don’t allow the new decor to have any influence on your decision because it is, by far, the only good thing going in the place.

There have been several serious concerns the past couple of days that are disturbing. Nothing new, mind you, that we have not had happen before and have written up on one of their complaint forms, which they do not do anything about by the way. Nevertheless, they are upsetting and scary.

Not sure what’s worse them disabling the call light, so that mom cannot get help or leaving her sitting in the wheelchair unsupervised in her room knowing that she is a very high fall risk and might stand up and fall breaking bones or worse. We have addressed these concerns multiple times at care plan meetings and written them up as I mentioned, however, they do not follow through on their promises to check the call light daily or make sure mom is supervised at all times when sitting in the wheelchair.

Then there is the never ending problem of letting her lie in bed for hours on end in urine. They are supposed to check her every hour as they have promised us at care plan meetings, but deny it later of course and say it is 2 hours knowing full well that in 2 hours mom will be swimming in it due to her serious wetting issue. They don’t check in 2 hours anyway, it’s more like 4-6 hours by the looks of things when we get there.

This is why you must get a copy of the care plan as mentioned before, because they will make promises to your face and deny it later when you call them on it. Then, when you don’t have the documentation you don’t have a leg to stand on. It’s your word against theirs and there are way more of them than you, so they win, you lose, too bad so sad is their motto.

While I am at it I might as well get into the thievery that occurs on nearly a daily basis. It was just yesterday that they stole another one of my mother’s pillows. Not their cheap blue plastic things, but ones that we bought and are out now about $60 or more just in pillows. We have had so many things stolen that I can’t possibly remember them all. Once in a while something is recovered, but usually it’s gone forever.

They blame this thievery on what they call the ‘wanderers’ these are residents that they allow to wander in and out of the other resident’s rooms. I call them thieves they call them wanderers. I tell them to watch them closer and not allow them to come into my mother’s room and they tell me to hide my mother’s belongings, so that they can’t steal them.

So it seems, they refuse to accept responsibility for what goes on or what is stolen at Harrison Terrace and have never even said they were sorry for the losses or the neglect and abuse for that matter. I believe the reason they don’t apologize is that it’s an admission of guilt and they will NEVER admit to any wrong doing. Lies and excuses are all you get.

That’s it for now, but I can promise there will be more for those of you who need to know what is really going on in nursing homes. Believe me, it’s not just at Harrison Terrace Indianapolis, but all over the country. The horror stories are true no doubt about it.

Harrison Terrace Indianapolis 09/12/2011

Activities at Harrison Terrace are supposedly a big part of the nursing home experience. My mother hates activities there and with good reason. It becomes apparent rather quickly that the activities are a way to lure the resident’s into the dining room area like a herd of cattle where they may sit for who knows how long. While there may be an activity of some sort going on that is entertaining for a short period of time the problem is that when the activity is over they’re stuck there sitting doing nothing.

Why do they do this? The do it because it is easier to supposedly supervise the residents. You see, when residents are in their room then the aids have to answer call lights and actually work. Or heaven forbid toilet them! I am talking about residents that are like my mother and are bound to the wheelchair and end up stuck in the dining room or some area by the nurses station for hours unable to get back to their room to lay down and rest.

When you cannot manipulate the wheelchair anymore to make it go where you want it to, you depend on someone else to take you where you want to go. Trying to get an aid or someone’s attention or listen to you at all is very rare. They look right through the resident’s as if they are invisible and go about their business. Day in and day out this is how it goes.

Needless to say activities in this place are a joke. They make it sound good though and trick a lot of resident’s into going. They even offer them junk food to get them there. As mentioned above, outward appearances are a big thing at Harrison Terrace. They know how to bait the hook…

Next, on my list is therapy and I must say this nursing home is the worse than the others. Restorative therapy is supposed to be ongoing, however, this is not the case at Harrison Terrace. They say they will do it, but they don’t. Also, the therapist’s attitudes are awful at best just like many of the aids, nurses and other staff. In my opinion they are incompetent as well. Their most recent screw up was the inability to order a compression glove that fits. The orthopedic surgeon ordered it because mom’s hand has excessive swelling from where they broke her arm. Did they ever do it? NO! It is now over 6 weeks later and STILL no compression glove.

At this point we never expect anything good to happen at Harrison Terrace. In fact, we expect the worst every time we go this way if it isn’t too bad it’s a good day. Today when I got there they had her pants down around her knees lying in bed under the covers. The last time this happened it was the day they broke her arm. I have no idea why they do this and nobody will give me an answer. For me there is no logical explanation as to why they wouldn’t either pull the pants up or take them off. I just don’t get it!

The crazy part is that they won’t admit it and I know they had to pull her pants down to her knees or not pull them up all the way, one or the other. She physically cannot do this herself she only has one hand that is usable the other one is paralyzed and arm is broke, she cannot use it.

I have seen and heard things in this nursing home that will haunt me forever. Not only things done to my mother, but to other residents. Just today I heard 2 aids talking in the hall about a resident smelling bad and one said that they probably haven’t changed her all day and I’m not about to and when I find out who it is I am going to cuss them out. They never did change her. I see call lights on for over an hour down the hall and when I tell a nurse or aid they rudely say we know and do absolutely NOTHING.

The thing that bothers me the most is that when the aid broke my mom’s arm she knew she hurt her and didn’t report it. She may not have known the arm was broke, but she knew mom was hurt bad and DID NOT report it, but left her lying in bed in pain and in feces. I figure this happened from mom losing bodily function due to the pain. Who knows how long she had been lying there like that. When I came in this is the condition she was in and I had to practically beg them to order an Xray.

The way it happened is mom started to fall back on the bed and the aid tried to catch her and lost balance falling on top of her. This wouldn’t be so bad if the aid had not denied it and owned up to what she did, however, she still lies about it to this day and this means she cannot be trusted.

If management at Harrison Terrace had any sense whatsoever they would not allow this aid to still take care of my mother, but they do. They believe her over mom due to mom’s dementia, but mom knows she did it and that she lied about it, so she doesn’t feel safe with her anymore and we feel the same way. Hopefully, they will get rid of her soon or she will quit.

I don’t think she should be allowed to care for the elderly she hurts resident’s and doesn’t report it. She has no conscious!

What do you think?

Harrison Terrace Indianapolis 9/14/2011

Did I mention they tried to kick mom out and this is just after they told us we love your mother and right after they broke her arm. They were not successful, because they tried to do it by accusing me and my sister of a bunch of nonsense that wasn’t true. To add to this they used bogus paperwork that didn’t give us the ability to appeal mom’s discharge. The paperwork was also missing other important language, such as another nursing home that they recommend or have found for mom to go to. There is a specific form to be used and they didn’t use it.

How did we find out that it wasn’t valid? By calling the ombudsman and asking him and when I told him what they had done he said they can’t do it that way they have rules to follow and they’re not following them. They want rid of us really bad, since we have reported them to several organizations and had them investigated. Not that it did any good they are really good at not documenting things they don’t want known.

You see, nursing homes hate outside investigations, it causes them a lot of trouble. They like to do in house investigation, which is like no investigation at all. They are all paid by this place, so they’re not going to find anything that implies guilt on their end. When they tell you they are doing an investigation they will find nothing, because they are trying really hard to find nothing and if they do find something then I believe they cover it up.

Most days I witness some form of neglect and abuse at Harrison Terrace if not with my mother then someone else. Just last night I saw a resident standing up in the dining room that I knew wasn’t supposed to be standing. So, I pointed at her and told the aid and the aid went into nasty attitude mode and said I can’t be running after these people and serve dinner too. The lady started walking rather quickly wobbling and you could tell she was going to fall, but staff never made a move to stop her as they should have, so she fell. Then the aid proceeded to yell at her for getting up instead of asking if she was okay. Compassionate caregiver NOT!

Not sure what the extent of her injuries were, but the same lady, believe it or not, fell out of her wheelchair tonight in the hall right by my mother’s room. Remember, just last night she hit the floor hard in the dining room while neglectful and uncaring aids watched and did nothing. So, here I go again telling the nurse this time that there is a lady who fell in the hall.

The same sorry aid that allowed her to fall last night, tonight sarcastically said she is just trying to get attention by falling in the hall. The fact of the matter is the lady has Alzheimer’s and has no idea what she is doing. I wonder how long this woman can survive this place. True nursing home horror stories at Harrison Terrace.

Harrison Terrace Indianapolis 9/20/11

It has been 6 days since last update and for good reason I was busy getting my mother out of this place. We decided, once again, that it was time to try another nursing home. Even though we know they are mostly all bad, just varying degrees of bad, we figure it simply cannot be any worse than this one. The day of the move was the worst as management at Harrison Terrace threw my mother’s belongings in big bags without permission. We had boxes and were going to pack things up nicely like normal people do, but being the control freaks that they are they took it upon themselves to disrespect mom’s property one last time, so they were awful to the very end. No reason to do it other than spite I suppose.

The new nursing home is Miller’s Merry Manor and just so that you know I plan to keep this post updated on what is going on there. At this point we can see that the care is better in some areas. You see, Harrison Terrace was bad in all areas there was nothing good about the place at the time of leaving, therefore, any good thing is an improvement as we see it.

Thus far, they give mom her medications like they’re supposed to and follow up with other doctor’s like the orthopedic surgeon. Therapy is better she is already being helped in that area. However, the in room care is just as bad, at least so far, as Harrison Terrace. This means the aids will probably be an ongoing concern. To be more specific, they don’t have enough aids to care for the resident’s and some aids are incompetent and have bad attitudes.

Every nursing home we have been in the in room care was bad, so we were prepared for this to be the case in this one as well. We have scheduled a care plan meeting asap to let mom’s needs be known to all those in management. We have also made a list of these needs and are putting the list in mom’s room on the wall. They will have no excuse for not providing proper care other than not reading and following the list.

Who knows what will go on at the Merry Manor it remains to be seen. Whatever it is I will make it known as it happens. So far, the worst thing has been that I was there from 11 am to 7 pm yesterday and not one aid came into the room to check on mom. I told them about it and they said she had not been added to their list. What if I had not been there? Mom doesn’t remember the call light most of the time, so she would have been stuck for 8 hours with no care at all. Here we go again…

Update on Merry Manor Nursing Home Indianapolis 9/26/2011

The nurses or the aids have not improved thus far, however, I didn’t expect them to. In fact, the nurses have gotten worse in that they make the resident wait forever to get medication. The meds that are scheduled seem to get there an hour before or an hour after, but when it’s not you might as well just settle in, since they may or may not bring it. For example, my mother had diarrhea and she needed something to stop it and the nurse argued about it like she didn’t believe me or my mom. Why would anyone say they needed diarrhea medication unless they needed it?

We have also had more problems with aids allowing mom to sit in urine soaked brief too long as well as leaving urine soaked pads on her bed and covering them up with clean ones. In other words, instead of changing all bed linen they just cover the soiled ones, which is much easier. However, being the experienced nursing home detective that I am I know to check, so it didn’t work. This happened all the time at Harrison Terrace and other nursing homes. The bottom line is, don’t trust the bed linen, check it thoroughly by lifting up the top covers to inspect underneath.

You have to stay on top of them or they will try to get away with all kinds of stuff. Why do they do it? They do it because they know they can plus the fact that there are no consequences. The only price I have ever seen them pay is that they are annoyed by the State Board inspections when you report them, but that’s it. They fill these places up knowing full well they don’t have the staff to take care of them. It’s all about money.

Miller’s Merry Manor Indianapolis 10/13/2011

It’s been about a month now since my mother was transferred to Merry Manor. I have been there every day, so I see most everything that goes on. There is only one other person who is there visiting every day and we exchange info on the level of care received in this nursing home. Thus far, it is still similar to all the others, but not as bad.We both agree there are only varying degrees of bad in nursing homes and that none are good.

The biggest problem at Merry Manor, like many other nursing homes, is that they don’t have the proper ratio of nurses aids to patients needed. There isn’t enough help, so the residents have to wait sometimes for hours in wheelchair just to be put to bed or lie down and rest. This is after a long exhaustive day of being stuck in the wheelchair in some room or hallway trying to get somebody to help them. The owners of these places allow this to go on so that they can make more money. The less staff, the less they spend, and the more residents they have the more profit they make.

I am trying to not go to the nursing home as often, but every time I do this my mother suffers at the hands of uncaring or too busy CNA’s. At this time I am there over 40 hours a week, but trying to get it back down to 25 a week or less. This is hard to do, because when I am not there I worry about what it going on, if mom is lying in urine and feces for hours, or stuck in a wheelchair trying to get someone to lay her down in bed to rest.

The Merry Manor nurses are still as hateful as ever I have no idea why they are nurses, but my guess is money. They give my mom her meds on time sometimes, but mostly do it in an order that is easiest for them. I don’t have to talk to them much and I am grateful for that. I mostly stay in my mom’s room, however, I do visit other residents and talk to them.

If going to the nursing home for hours on end and need to cut back it’s best to do it a little at a time. For example, on days that I go at 11:00 am, I wait until 2:00 pm. I’m always there for dinner and to put mom to bed. After dinner is one of the worst times in the nursing home as far as residents being stuck in their wheelchairs waiting, because it takes so long for the aids to get them ready for bed one by one.

Another reason this time of the day is so bad is that it’s the end of the day and resident’s are exhausted from dealing with living in a nursing home, which is emotionally draining. They’re also physically worn out from getting up so early and being stuck in uncomfortable wheelchairs for long periods of time and at times all day. They say they get them up every 2 hours, but this isn’t true they just move them around to make it appear so.

Miller’s Merry Manor Indianapolis 11/9/2011

It’s been awhile, I have been waiting to gain more experience with this nursing home, so that I can give better information on the care at Miller’s Merry Manor. Basically, it’s still better than the last one, but not good by any means. The first shift is pretty good, however, the 2nd shift is horrible, as far as one on one care goes, which is the aids with residents. I have figured out one of the reasons why this difference in shifts occurs.

Once again, it goes back to the nurses at Merry Manor. The nurses are the ones who are supposed to, note I said supposed to, make sure the aids are doing their job. Well, when the nurses and aids become buddies the aids can pretty much get away with a lot of stuff. If the nurse is on them making sure resident care is up to par then all goes well, but if not, care is flat out bad. So it seems, in this case, that the 2nd shift nurse isn’t supervising the aids as needed. As a result, the residents suffer.

It’s about time for another nursing home horror story and I got one that just happened last night. I noticed that a room had the call light on for a very long time and the door was shut. Call lights are not supposed to be on a long time, like 45 minutes or more, which is the case here. Since the door was shut I assumed an aid was in there, but as it turns out there wasn’t and the two women in there began to scream “FIRE” to get someone to come in the room and finally they did when they felt like it.

These women were okay, but what if they had not been, somebody could have died as long as it took aids to answer that call light. The really scary part is that the room was directly across from the nurses station, so the nurse had to know that the aids were not answering the call light and let it go. Why? Because the nurse and aids are friends, so there is no supervisory relationship, which, once again, means residents suffer.

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Well, it has been a couple of years since I have written a post and a LOT has happened in those two years most of it bad. I’ve been writing online as my primary way of income and working part time at Walmart a couple of times. The Walmart thing is a long story broke my hip working there the first time then got rehired over a year later at another one. I shouldn’t have did the 2nd go around due to care of my mom in the nursing home, which is another looooonng story that I will go into detail on in my next post.

I also had a broken knee just 6 months before the broken hip and was on crutches for 6 months with that ordeal. It got broke breaking up a fight on a bus full of inner city kids that I volunteer with on weekends at the Caring Place in Indianapolis. The kids get in fights all the time and I have broken up hundreds of them in the past 10 years or so, but this time I got kicked pretty hard and ended up getting carried off of the bus. The rehab was long and hard mostly because I am old (60) and it takes longer to heal.

Worse yet, the hip break happened only a month after I was off the crutches and walking again. I had to have surgery to put me back together again, sort of like Humpty Dumpty. Anyway, the broken knee and hip thing set me back a good year. I still managed to live life, but I must say it wasn’t fun and my moonbow chasing was put on hold. I was also able to get to the nursing home to care for mom, albeit on crutches, however, something is better than nothing.

In the meantime I kept writing for writing sites online like eHow, Infobarrel and Hubpages. During this time eHow decided to cancel their WCP program and so that income is gone. I managed to get up to $800-$1000 a month, so that it was a big loss. Infobarrel is a great site to write for, but they do not have the high page rank that eHow did to get articles to the front page of google. So, I had to work a lot harder to make money writing. I still write at IB and at Hubpages, however, HP is having a serious Panda/Google war, so not much money being made right now for many of us.

The main reason I started writing again on this blog is my next post on nursing home abuse and neglect. I feel that they need to be exposed, so that people who have parents or grandparents in these torture chambers know what is really going on when they are not there and maybe to get those who are able to take care of the elderly to do so and keep them at home. Also, I would like to inform people on what they need to do if they already have an elderly person that they care about in a nursing home.

I have been going to the nursing home now for almost 5 years to care for my mother, so I know a lot about what goes on in there. I am now there about 30 hours or so a week. My sister goes 3 days a week for a total of 6-8 hours a week. It has progressively gotten worse as her health declines, so we need to be there more often. The more care she needs the more we realize we need to be there EVERY DAY.

Once she could not fend for herself anymore I realized that she was in big trouble because the nursing home staff was and is NOT stepping up their level of care, but instead neglecting her simply because they can get away with it and as I now know they really don’t care.

For those of you who aren’t interested in what is going on in the nursing homes let me tell you that one day you will. We all get old and most likely will need to be taken care of one day. Stay tuned for the sordid details in my next post there is a lot to cover and I have seen and experienced way more than I care to on a daily basis at the nursing home.

For those who do care about what’s really happening to the elderly in the nursing home you really need to pay close attention because everything I write is true and happening right now to elderly people every day in nursing homes all over the country. I know it is true I have seen it.

Don’t worry I’ll be writing more motivational stuff at some point, but for right now the truth about nursing homes needs to be told.

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It’s been over a month since I’ve written anything on this blog. Which is kind of strange since it is my favorite one. I have five or so others a couple of ugly Blogger blogs and three WP’s. I’ve been busy working online and writing articles. Sometimes I don’t go out of the house for days or see anyone. My only contact with people is here in cyberspace.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad, possibly a bit of both. Cyberspace is a strange place where you meet people,but never see them. Not that you don’t want to see them it’s just not possible considering they are sometimes thousands of miles away.

It’s like we’re separate from the outside world in a way but yet connected. I never try to explain this to my family or friends who I hardly ever see anymore. Not that I was a social butterfly before or anything, far from it. I have always been a introvert maybe that’s why cyberspace is so appealing to me. If I don’t want to be bothered I can shut down.

For me Cyberspace really is the final frontier. The place I choose to spend my time and work all the way to the end. I can see myself years from now on a laptop out in the mission field writing my book.

That’s right someday I will once again be a full time missionary and a great writer. The dream will be a reality no matter how far away it seems at the moment. Internet marketing is just a way to get there. It may take another 10 years or so and that’s okay by me.

I would love for it to be sooner, however, it looks like patience is in order if I want to make it. God is always faithful and will come through in His timing not mine. He is silent right now so I must wait.

I used to watch Star Trek every night and always loved this part:

Space: The final frontier
These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise
Its 5 year mission
To explore strange new worlds
To seek out new life and new civilizations
To boldly go where no man has gone before

Any Star Trek fans reading this? You know what I’m talking about.  The man’s voice was like God talking it echoed and was so deep and serious. I got a kick out of it didn’t you?

Sorry I kind of got off track, but I can do that it’s my blog. Signing out with a classic Spock line- Live Long and Prosper.

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Wow! It’s New Year’s Eve and this will be the last post of 2008 on Moonbow Chaser. I started this blog back in July, at that time I didn’t know anything about blogging or Internet Marketing. I had this blog set up by Jon at Ninja Blog Setup as I had no idea how to do it.

I’ve been through Wealthy Affiliate, where I never understood anything, the 30 Day Challenge ‘TWICE’  it took me twice to get it. I am now with the Niche Blogger; Amy Bass.  I have learned more with her than anyone, this is due to her ability to break it down to a level I can understand and implement so I’m finally starting to get it.

I didn’t really know what or how I was going to use the internet at all for anything. In fact, I can’t believe I’m still trying to do anything.  Even though I have put many hours working online I still don’t have much to show for it, at least not money wise. Many times I’ve been tempted to give up, but that’s not very Moonbow Chaser like is it?

If you’re a Moonbow Chaser aka dream chaser, quitting is not an option. I’m not a quitter, never have been, never will be. I’ve always been a workaholic I suppose that’s why I feel right at home in this challenge of trying to make money online. They say only 5% of people do this well enough to make a living from it. The other 95% most likely got tired of working for no money.

You notice I said for no money, well, maybe a little money. They’re used to getting paid for working 10-14 hour days. That ain’t gonna happen if you don’t have a good knowledge of what it takes to make money on the internet. There’s a high learning curve involved, especially if you’re like me. No marketing or computer skills, at all, ZERO nothing.

To let you know how bad I really am at this. I have made $4.37 total in 6 months and that’s in adsense, off of an ugly blogger blog. I have 3 wordpress blogs that look pretty good and have good content, but it’s the old ugly blogger blog that makes any money at all. Funny isn’t it? You have to have  a sense of humor about it or else you’ll run and scream,” I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!

So, I plug along at my slow pace researching, learning, posting and of course implementing the best I can. I sometimes still spend a whole day just trying to figure out one little techie thing that takes someone else 5 minutes to do. That’s Ok, it’s part of the process I suppose.

I’m not sure what will happen next year I just know I’m not quitting. I look forward to the challenge and fully expect my dream to become a reality. After all, that’s what Moonbow Chaser’s do.

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Have you ever felt like you’re doing your best and your best wasn’t good enough? And no matter what you do it seems like you should be doing more and doing it better. Well, I’ve been on that wagon a long time now and getting fed up with it. So, I think it’s time to find out if this is negative thinking or if my dream really is a lost cause.

Am I to judge my own accomplishments? Or try to ask others what they think? What do you think people would say if you told them what you’ve been doing in regards to reaching your goals/dreams. Do you think they would tell you that’s great or laugh and say you got to be kidding.

I sure wouldn’t want to hear anyone say my efforts have been in vain. And that my dream isn’t even remotely close to becoming a reality. Naturally, this could create discouragement and that could be why I haven’t told anyone what I’ve been doing, let alone what progress, if any, I’ve made.

After all, no man is an island. I would like to get input, but keep thinking it’s not good enough to show and tell. But then how do I know I’m on the right track? Thus it goes round and round; a vicious cycle of doubt.

Ok, as I said I’m sick of all that, so it’s time to muster up some courage and get a few opinions. Then I will know if my dreams are unrealistic or if indeed I am on to something. Who knows I might even get motivated instead of discouraged. I believe it’s called positive thinking!

Are you following me here? It’s time to start being positive and believe in yourself. Let go of negative thinking so you can make your dream a reality.

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Chasing moonbows is a full time gig, at least for me. I use the term moonbow chaser as an analogy for dream chaser. To explain, a moonbow is a rainbow created by the moon instead of the sun and it is quite rare to actually see one. Just like when you chase your impossible dream and get close to making it a reality and something goes wrong and it eludes you, yet one more time. Of course, it’s disappointing each time this happens, but that’s how life is. All you can do is pick yourself up, brush yourself off and get back in the ring; a fight to the finish.

That’s how I see life; as one battle after the next. Even if you lose a battle or two, that’s Ok, at least you haven’t lost the war. It’s not over till it’s over. In other words, as long as you’re alive you still have a chance of making your dream a reality. Giving up should not be an option, or even a thought, if it’s something you believe in. Personally, I don’t waste my time on anything I don’t believe to be worthwhile, and that includes people. DO NOT waste time on losers, period!

In fact, it could be the losers that you’ve allowed in your life that create most of the battles. Guess how I know this, because I have had those same losers in my past. What a waste of time and effort; if only I knew then what I know now. Even so, it’s never too late to assess relationships and make the necessary adjustments in order to better your life.

After all, you’re in control of your life, or should be. You are the one responsible for choices made, you’re the one who will pay for whatever goes wrong. You can try to blame others, but this never works in the long run. You just end up fighting yourself, which can be worse, sometimes internal struggles are the worst kind and can result in depression.

It seems then, we need to pursue our moonbow or dream, whatever you choose to call it, in battle ready mode. Determined to overcome the odds no matter who or what happens. There are no guarantees, however, you will gain a great sense of satisfaction knowing you gave it your best shot. Otherwise, you may end up with a slew of’ what if’s’. Don’t let that happen, give it your all, your best.

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The last time the topic was burn out and how it can affect your dream. When I wrote that I had way too much stuff going on. I trimmed it down to a doable level and now the dreamchase is back on track. I most certainly was going down hill at a fast pace and my health was suffering for it so something had to go. Guess what that was? My job. I left my job and don’t have another one isn’t that scary in this day and age when the economy is BAD. Well, it was the thing I dreaded most and by far the most stressful, so after much forethought and prayer I opted to quit. It’s been great, I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off of me and I am able to pursue my seemingly impossible dream and actually focus a bit too.

My focus was way off I couldn’t think about anything for longer than 5 minutes. That’s one of the ways you know you’re headed down the road of imbalance; loss of focus. And typically I’m a focused person so that’s why I noticed that every day was all jumbled up into the next, nothing made sense and I didn’t care if it did or not. I’m sure you’ve gotten to the point that you don’t care about things like you used to and wondered why. However, you were so tired you dismissed those thoughts and went on aimlessly trying to fulfill responsibilities and going through the motions of daily life.

I for one don’t like just going through the motions I want purpose and meaning to each day. I want to be working toward my goals and making progress not acting like everything is Ok and it isn’t. Of course, I’m one of those what you see is what you get kind of people so I wear my soul on my sleeve, if I’m down it will be obvious. I’m absolutely no good at being phony, can’t do it, don’t want to do it, won’t do it. I got to be me like the old song says hmmm, I wonder if that song is on Youtube. Of course it is, check it out below,  a classic by Sammy Davis Jr. with a nice little speech too.

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I’ve been busy working on another blog and have neglected this one. Whether it’s good or bad I don’t know I just know I ran out of time for everything. I know most everyone has this problem now and then. However, I decided it was time to do a post on my favorite blog, this one.  This particular blog is all about chasing your dream which I am doing at a frantic pace. Of course, as usual I try to do too many things at once. And when you do that it can hinder the chase or even bring it to a halt.

That’s what I’m going to briefly write about today. Naturally, when you are hindered or brought to a downright halt you have to look at your life and try to figure out what you can let go. Too many priorties on the plate and something has to go. Then you may go over your daily tasks and think “I can’t let anything go, it’s all important”. What then? Then you have to reassess your priorties and start asking yourself questions, like ” Is this still the most productive use of my time?” “Do I still need to be doing this?” “Or is this something that I should let go of, but don’t want to. ”

That’s what I’ve been doing lately, trying to figure out what can I take away. It’s coming down to having to give up something I love to do, but don’t need to do. Otherwise, my health is at risk due to the load being too heavy, not to mention my dream being negatively affected. After all how can you chase your dream when you’re body breaks down and ceases to function. The answer is simple; you can’t.

It’s important to keep your dream alive for without it life doesn’t have much meaning or purpose. To keep the dream alive we have to keep ourselves alive. And not just alive, but alive and well. The reality is that if your health isn’t good you will not be able to do anything significant. You simply won’t have the strength. I know this from my own past experience when I ran myself in the ground; burned out.

Since I have been there done that, I know the symptoms and can take steps to avoid another burnout. The first step to avoid burnout is to do what I mentioned above. Reassess priorties and cut out the least productive. Sounds simple, but isn’t! The next thing I do is try to get more rest and quiet time so that I can get my energy level where it needs to be. No energy, no production, no production, no dream fulfilled.

For this reason, if you have discovered you are heading for burnout and have too many to do’s on your daily list it’s time to trim down to a doable list. This must be done or your dream will not become a reality, but will stay a dream. I don’t know about you but I want to live my dream not just dream it. In fact, it’s up to us to not let it die, but to bring it to life.
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Do you ever wonder what takes up all your time? Do your days seem to go by and somehow you feel like nothing has gotten accomplished? I find this happening more often than not and I don’t like it. The worst part of this is that my dream seems to lose it’s importance and responsibilities are in total control. It’s good to be responsible, but I’m one of those overly responsible people. For some reason I think I’m responsible for everything and I must be the one to make sure it’s done and done right.  I’m always saying these words to other people” That’s irresponsible, you need to be more responsible.” And they pay no attention to me and keep on being irresponsible, so then I finish what they should have and am resentful while they go on  with their happy go lucky attitude; not a care in the world.

I want to have one of those happy go lucky attitudes; however, I’m too responsible and am stressing out over all kinds of stuff if it doesn’t get done. I know there has to be a balance somewhere in the area of responsibility, but how do you find it? Oh here I go again, the balance word; I mention it often in my posts. The problem is that you can get out of balance very quickly, you have to be on top of it 24/7. I try hard to do this because I know I have a strong tendency to be an extremist, I’ve been this way all of my life and it has cost me dearly.

I’m talking serious consequences in health, finances and relationships; you know all the biggies. This is how I know why balance is so important and why I take action every time I think I’m headed the wrong way. It has also set me back to the beginning when it comes to possessing my dream. For example, several years ago I set a fitness goal; I’m big on fitness and was determined nothing would stop me. Well, stupid me somehow while playing tennis I acquired a stress fracture and refused to slow down and thought I could push through the pain and continue my weight training and all my other workout routines. WRONG! I wound up on crutches for six months! Set me back at least a year.

This is just one of many examples I could use. Do you do this dumb stuff too? If you do then STOP doing it! Easier said than done of course. Actually, I am much better than I used to be I know I’m not completely cured since it is natural for me to be extreme and push beyond my limitations. There’s another good point, knowing your limitations. I didn’t use to think I had limitations, however since I let my dream slip between my fingers more times than I care to think about, I know better.  If you don’t know your limitations then you’ll do what I did; learn the hard way.

OK, to sum up, we get out of balance if we’re overly responsible, extreme, and don’t know our limitations. Naturally, this just a few of the things in life that can throw us into a tizzy. Speaking of tizzy, guess what? I just got sent into a tizzy. Know why? A PRAYING MANTIS just flew onto my computer! Wow, here he is and he’s a big one! Major interruption while writing my post. Last time it was a cricket; see Chasing the Cricket and the cricket fight video. This is too awesome, the Mantis is like the King of the Bugs. Be back in a minute, got to catch him!

He didn’t take near as long or cause me near as much trouble as the cricket. He flew around kind of like a small airplane and landed a couple of times, once on the ceiling, hit me in the zoom down while I was standing on a chair with my cup and piece of cardboard for the capture and then sat down on the floor. I watched him closely as he rubbed his front legs together and wiggled his antennae, totally oblivious to me and had no fear whatsoever. Once I closed in on him however, he furiously beat the cup from the inside with his wings. I was very careful not to chop a leg off like I did the cricket, he’s unharmed and so am I. A win win! Now he’s safely outside where he’s supposed to be.

Sorry I got off topic, but this is a blog not a novel and the Mantis is way cool and worth it. I was finishing up anyway so in closing I would like to say please don’t kill a Mantis if it wanders into the house, catch him and put him outside so he can kill all the pesky bugs that really bug you.

WATCH HOW THIS MANTIS RULES!

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I have a question. Have you ever had a cricket in the house and couldn’t sleep for all the noise? Then went on the hunt for said cricket and found it? This is what happened to me just last night and I did find him, he was a big one, sneaky, smart and very loud. Of course, at this point the chase was on. I got my broom, a water bottle to squirt him with, a large cup and piece of cardboard for the capture. The battle ensued for at least 30 minutes. I was determined to take him alive and throw him outside, but would kill if necessary. I chased the cricket under and behind everything, I watched him closely to see if I could predict his next move. He was clever and never came out in the open so I had to be strategic.

As I planned my strategy  the chase reminded me of life and chasing my dream, just when I started to get close it seemed to slip out of my grasp. While I waited for a glimpse of him it came to mind how many times I waited for an open door and how my hopes thus far have been just that, hopes. I knew if I gave up there would be no sleep or rest all night. The same holds true of my dream, if I give up it will never be a reality and I will have no rest thinking about all the work I’ve done and what a waste of time it all turned out to be.

It was the waiting that was the hardest part. Standing at the end of the desk like a cat waiting on a mouse to run out. The same is true in the chasing of my dream, waiting and wondering if that special call will come or  what will happen, if anything, from all the networking and hoping for just the right connection to the right business or person. Persistence and patience is vital to catching the cricket as is with the seemingly impossible dream. And one more thing; you must pursue.

In my pursuit I managed to hurt my back and the cricket lost a leg. It was war! And I wasn’t about to lose it. I did begin to wonder though at the 15 minute mark, when I hit my head on the table, pretty hard, so I had a hurt back and a bump on the head. With broom in hand I swatted him from behind the desk and squirted him with water. He jumped and hid under the computer. I lifted the computer and he ran behind the chair, it was like he knew what to do and where to go. He knew my apt. better than I did! If I wasn’t a Christian I would have cussed at him.

It was becoming more and more like my dream that always manages to elude me, right when I think I’m on the verge of having a breakthrough. It’s gone again without a trace of evidence that it was ever there. Then I’m left frustrated and disappointed just like chasing the cricket so I could sleep. By this time I was getting tired and a little aggravated. The fun had wore off. This also happens in the real dream chase, you’ve come too far to quit, and there’s too much at stake.

Finally, I see him creeping out like he’s looking for me. I’m hiding behind the fridge now, waiting. I have set my broom down and have my big plastic cup and cardboard in hand. I know I had to move fast or he would get away again. The same is true in the dream chase if you know it’s within your grasp you better move fast, don’t hesitate MOVE NOW before it escapes you one more time. That’s what I did I slammed the cup down over him and he was trapped! I slid the cardboard under it and walked down the stairs and threw him out in the grass. I was smiling,  victory was mine.

All the persistence and patience paid off just as it will when I finally possess the dream that I have chased for such a long time. Whether it’s chasing a cricket, a Moonbow or a dream you can never give up, but continue to advance forward until you have the victory. I WON, the cricket lost! Why? I was persistent, patient, I pursued and I didn’t give up.

He was like the one in this video, now you know why he had to go!

Watch Cricket Fight Below…

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Well, I got my computer fixed, at least for now, so I can post. It’s been about a week and usually I post several times a week. Consequently, my dream chasing went down to a crawl. Things will happen to set you back, but you have to keep going and not give up no matter what. This is where you find out how important the dream is and how to keep it going. What sacrifices are you willing to make and how hard are you willing to work? Are you willing to give your all?

When you ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly I think you will find what you want to know. More than likely you will find yourself assessing priorities and what order they should they go in. Who and what is most important in your life? If your priorities are misplaced you can have potential disaster. For example, if you think it’s more important to go shopping for new clothes than to pay the electric bill, that already has a disconnect notice, this is a serious problem. I realize this is an extreme example, however, there are people who do things like this.

If you’re one of those people you need help. Get it now! Or if you know someone like this, and most of us do, then try to talk some sense into them. After all, we need to guide the misguided and help them if we can. Many times when we do this it helps us see a clearer picture of our own issues, therefore in the process of helping them, we help ourselves. It’s a win win, no losers.

On the other hand, if you’re one of those people that’s easily influenced by others and find yourself being talked into making unwise decisions, you need to stay away from the misguided so that they don’t take you down with them. Misery loves company and worse yet you create a lose lose, no winners. The goal should always be a win win, not a lose lose or a win lose.

Of course, if you do get into a lose lose or a win lose situation it would be a good idea to seek counsel from a trusted friend, family member or even professional help. Whatever it takes to make progress and get your priorities in order. If priorities are right everything else falls into place.

For this reason, it would be wise to do an inventory of your priorities on a regular basis. And if you see that they’re misplaced then do whatever is necessary to straighten them out. Once you have priorities in order your dream is destined to be a reality.

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I’ve had some computers problems lately and this has set me back a bit on posting and some other things. I have it working for now so I thought I would try to get a post in before it dies on me again. When it died the other day and I couldn’t revive it, I went into panic mode. You see I wasn’t backed up and since I’m not techy at all I wasn’t sure how to back up. While all this was going down I realized how much time and work I have put into the internet in the past eight weeks. And how much information is in here that I cant’ afford to lose. Since then I did a back up and have stopped stressing, however, it may die any moment who knows.

Anyway all this started me to thinking that maybe I have allowed myself to get out of balance when it comes to the internet. I was spending eight to fourteen hours a day easy on here, seven days a week. My total focus was on trying to understand internet marketing, posting and researching for hours on end. Then when it all fell and I couldn’t get access to my blogs and other interests, I was really down because I thought I had lost all my work. This has taught me a couple of lessons, one is to back up everything on a daily basis and two, not allow myself to become so focused on the internet that I panic if it crashes.

So my questions to you are, how much time do you spend on the internet? And if it crashes are you backed up? And the bigger question is, how will it affect you if it does? Would you feel lost and not know what to do? Would you panic like I did? Only you know the answers to these questions and if you suspect you have gotten addicted to the internet then you need to do some type of adjustment in your use of it. You could start with asking your family and close friends to see if they think you have issues in this area. They should know and hopefully they will be honest with you so that you will consider taking action to correct it. Don’t forget, anything that gets out of balance can escalate and become a problem.

I never suspected I had a problem, I just kept going day and night no matter how tired I got. I never gave it a thought until it was gone. Then I was forced with the reality of it not being there to look into this a little deeper. I found myself not knowing what to do with my time and asking myself what did I do with my time before I got so absorbed in the internet. Wake up call! Light bulb moment! What to do now?

Now, I need to take action and make it a point not to get out of balance in this area again. You see, now that I know, I can do something about it, whereas before I didn’t know and continued to go at it day and night. I would say if you suspect it or even if you don’t suspect it, in case you’re in denial, I would do a little test. Something like, pretend your computer crashed, turn it off and don’t use it for a day or two to see how you respond. This should tell you something. If it doesn’t bother you at all then you probably don’t have an issue with it, but if it bothers you and you’re feeling lost, down, disconnected from the world and have to get back on before your deadline, you have a problem and need to address it.

Naturally, if you don’t address it, it will escalate and affect other areas of your life as well. Moreover, it can hinder or stop your dream from ever coming to pass. We can’t let anything stop us from reaching our dream, so we need to take action immediately to ensure victory.

All of us who are pursuing a dream want to possess it. Check yourself on a regular basis to see if there’s anything in your life that is out of balance. Including the internet.

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Wow, believe it or not we’re still on the topic of keeping our lives in balance. Today I want to touch on spirituality. If we’re going to keep balance this is just as important or maybe more important than anything else I’ve talked about so far. I have no idea who anyone else’s God is, but I know who mine is. My God is the creator of all things and the one and only true God. All others are idols. How do I know this? Well, the Bible tells me so in Isaiah 44:10 which states” Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing.” In other words, what’s the point? An idol can do nothing to benefit you. It’s dead. I serve a living God who lives forever and gives me a promise of everlasting life with Him.

No one can promise you this, but Jesus Christ. And if you don’t believe that, all I can say is, you’re in trouble and most likely you don’t know it. This is not God’s will for you, He loves all of us and is waiting for us to come to our senses. I used to be one of those foolish atheists who didn’t believe in God, in fact, I made fun of the Bible and was a complete idiot. Not anymore. Since I have become a Christian I am a different person, changed forever by His saving grace.

However, I still have issues with balance now and then, but not as bad as I was BC (before Christ). At least now I have someone to go to that has all the right answers. One who is willing and able to set me straight when I get off track. God does this by using the Holy Spirit to convict us when we do something He knows is wrong. It’s a feeling that something isn’t right and I’ve learned to stop and think before I act any further. There were many times He intervened and saved me from myself.

Similarly, if you’re overwhelmed and out of balance in your life He will intervene on your behalf too. Naturally, you will need to ask Him for help. God never pushes Himself on anyone He’s a God of freedom and He gives us a choice. He waits patiently for us to come to Him so that He can give us what nobody else can. Himself.

As a result, we experience His peace and rest. There is no person, place or thing that can give you what God can. People run around crazy every day, searching in all the wrong places, doing all the wrong things and getting more frustrated than ever. When all along the answer to their problem is, the love of God.

If you don’t know who He is, I would suggest you get busy finding out. And the only way to do this is to spend time with Him and learn His Word; He is the Word. John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” You can’t put a price on time with God, the presence of God is priceless. He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That’s my King!

This video says it all…

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Everybody has something they need to work on in order to achieve balance whether it’s diet, health, sleep, work, anger management, relationships or the ability to focus. The list could go on and on. However, we first need to know that there’s a problem. In a previous post I listed several beginning signs that alert you when you’re about to go over the edge of no return. By that I mean you can’t fix it; you’ve went too far. For example, a person who gambles and has lost a number of their assets, but still continues to go to the horse track every day. How many of you know what the end result will be? Are the signs there? You bet.

This is just one example; however, people do this on a regular basis knowing in their heart they need to take some type of action or get help, but don’t. I’m sure you can think back to a time or two that you knew you were getting out of balance and continued down the wrong path. You might even be on one right now! Are you taking inventory? Are you focused? If so, what are you focused on?

Therefore, taking inventory of our lives and keeping focus on our dream is absolutely necessary to possess it.There is no way to stay caught up in drama and pursue your dream, because the drama takes your focus and energy in a wrong direction. Focus is one of the keys to reaching your dream; a person who stays focused can do just about anything.

For this reason, people who are naturally focused have an advantage over those who can’t seem to focus. The good news is, however, that you can train yourself to be more focused. It’s kind of like when you see yourself getting out of balance and take action to prevent it from escalating. You can do that same thing with focus. You can take action by writing down your goals/ tasks for the day and implementing them one by one. If you start to do something that is not on the list. STOP ! Refocus and get back on track.

Consequently, if you put this into practice you will be able to stay focused on possessing your dream and not led another direction. After all, what good is it to have a dream and not be able to make it a reality.

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It’s time to get back to the health aspect of reaching our dream. Health is just as important as any other area of our lives. If you’ve been reading this blog you know that weight training is my favorite form of exercise, in particular, super setting. This involves back to back sets with no rest. You can do several types of super sets however, the two most popular are opposing muscle groups and same set muscle groups. I also like to include tri-sets in my routine. I use tri-sets to target a muscle group that doesn’t develop as quickly as the others, for me it’s my shoulders. A tri-set is just as you may have guessed, three exercises back to back.

When I workout at home I use Power Block Weights & Dumbbells

Power Block weights are the best weights you can use at home for super setting because they don’t take up much room and you can change your weight really quick. Who wants ten sets of dumb bells spread out everywhere? Not to mention when you have to put them away it’s a lot of work and after a hard super set routine who wants to do that?

If I go to the gym I line my free weights up next to the bench I’m working on so that I can, once again, quickly grab the next set of weights for the next set. It’s imperative you move quick so you can get the full benefit of super setting. Another great benefit is that you save a lot of time. I have cut my workout time in half using these techniques and have better results doing super sets than with any other type of exercise.

So you can see Power Blocks and super sets in action:

Weight training and super setting is not just for body builders it’s a great way to get in shape and if you make a commitment to keep doing it you will see great results. You can customize the routines to fit your level of fitness by increasing or decreasing the weight. This is not an advanced form of weight training it’s simply a great technique that works.

If you are new to weight training and would like detailed instruction I’m inserting a link below to a book that will help you learn the exercises properly.This book is not just for body builders, but for anyone who is interested in learning all they can about staying in shape. It also covers diet and supplements. You will immediately recognize this person, he is one of the greatest body builders of all time. Check it out. The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised

If you prefer other forms of exercise that’s great. However, I hope you will consider adding some form of strength training to your routine; why not super sets or even tri-sets. Then you will see optimal results in a much faster time frame. Why wait, super set your dream today!

P.S. Click on the Dig Deep post to see Arnold’s training video.

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