Anthony M Gray

This is a test post. I want to see what the ShareThis widget looks ike.

Some of the biggest causes of stress in our lives are money, relationships, jobs, and school. Even the things that are going right in our lives can be stressful: buying a house, having a baby, or planning a wedding. If you are lucky enough to not have any of these concerns, my hats’ off to you! No what are the chances of that? High stress levels can have some serious effects, including changes in behavior, eating habits, and physical illness.

Since those things that cause stress aren’t going away any time soon, let’s see what we can do to relieve stress. Sure, we all wish that we could do the jet setting thing. Hop on jet to a tropical island and spend some time getting a tan and sipping on a Mai Tai. If that’s just not a possibility for you, try one of these methods to alleviate the stress in your life:

1. Music Make yourself a mix of music that can pick you up. That’s right, just like when you collected songs to let that special someone know you liked them.
2. Exercise How about some yoga. Give the downward dog a try, you may like it. If yoga isn’t your thing,  find your favorite physical activity and feel the stress leave your body.
3. Laughter A good comedy show or an old Seinfeld re-run always does the trick.
4. Go Play Board games with family or friends or sitting playing a game of solitaire is always a good bet. However, stay away from the video games. Strained eyes and sore thumbs doesn’t sound stress free to me.
5. Meditate Meditation isn’t just sitting with your legs crossed humming or chanting. Meditation is any time you get to experience quiet to help you think. This works great for me. When I meditate, I’m asleep in 15 minutes.
6. Keep a journal Sometimes it helps to get your frustrations on paper. If you’re feeling stressed, write your frustrations down then get rid of them. Also write down your successes too – it helps to remember the good things when times are difficult.
7. Diet You know the saying, “You are what you eat.”

Here’s to a stress free life!

Come and enjoy great company with urban professionals in the New York City area looking to enhance personal wealth, business development, intellectual growth, social and networking opportunities.

This event provides the opportunity to interact with professionals and determine how we can collectively position ourselves to take advantage of vaious wealth building opportunities. Anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit looking to further their personal business and grow their professional contacts are welcome.

Vacation trips, higher gas prices and an ever increasing energy demand during the summer can put a strain on your wallet. Here are a few summer time tips to keep the additional costs under control.

Treat your AC with care. Your air conditioner can be a major expense during the summer. To keep it running efficiently, do a maintenance check as early as possible to ensure air ducts are clear and change the air filter monthly. Also, turn off the lights when the air conditioner is in use to help lower costs, as heat from light bulbs raises indoor temperatures, making AC units work harder.

Compare travel options. Investigate and compare travel options to find the most cost effective solution. For example, keep an eye on airline travel deals. A short flight or train ride to your destination may be cheaper than gassing up the family SUV.

Keep your garage empty. If you have a garage that is connected to your home try not parking your car in it. The heat that your car produces will raise the temperature in your home and result in higher air conditioning costs.

Lowering gas usage. Summer brings rising gas prices due to higher demand and the switch to cleaner burning fuels. Find out how changing your driving habits can lead to savings at the pump. Check out www.drivesmarterchallenge.org.

Cook smarter. Reduce summer food and energy costs by purchasing ingredients in bulk and cooking several meals at one time. Food can be prepared on cooler days, stored in the freezer, and reheated in a microwave or energy-efficient electric skillet to keep indoor temperatures low during a heat wave.

Sources.

• California Energy Commission, “Staying Cool in the Kitchen,” February 2009 (http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/tips/cool_in_the_kitchen.html)
• TVA, “Powerful Money-saving Ideas,” February 2009 (http://www.energyright.com/tips.htm)
• How Stuff Works, “How Gas Prices Work,” Kevin Bonsor and Ed Grabianowski, February 2009 (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-consumption/gas-price.htm)
• Money Saving Gas Tips, “The Alliance to Save Energy,” March 2009 (http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/money-saving-tips/default.aspx)

Since today is my birthday, I thought it would be cool to list some notable people who were also born on May 13. Some famous, some infamous. (Excerpts from Wikipedia)

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949.

Beatrice “Bea” Arthur (May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. In a career spanning seven decades, Arthur achieved success as the title character Maude Findlay on the 1970s sitcom Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls; she won Emmys for both roles. Also a stage actress, she won the Tony Award for her performance as Vera Charles in the original cast of Mame.

Maurice Robert “Mike” Gravel (born May 13, 1930) is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and a former candidate in the 2008 presidential election.

James Warren “Jim” Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of over 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the deaths of nine other people at a nearby airstrip in Georgetown.

Harvey Keitel (born May 13, 1939) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor whose latest work is that of Detective Lieutenant Gene Hunt on ABC’s crime drama “Life on Mars”. He is widely known for the “tough-guy” characters he portrays and for his memorable roles from Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott’s The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Jane Campion’s The Piano and Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant.

Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens’ recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably “La Bamba”, which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.

Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer who defined the early sound of Motown Records in the early sixties. Along with The Miracles, The Temptations, The Supremes, and The Four Tops, Wells was said to have been part of the charge in black music onto radio stations and record shelves of mainstream America “bridging the color lines in music at the time.”

Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. A prominent figure in popular music during the latter half of the 20th century, Wonder has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits, won twenty-two Grammy Awards the most ever won by a solo artist in history, and the lifetime achievement.

Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed “Dennis the Menace” and “The Worm” and was known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities. Playing small forward in his early years before becoming a power forward, Rodman earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships (1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998).

Stephen Tyrone Colbert (born May 13, 1964) is an American political satirist and television host. He is the host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.

Darius Rucker (born May 13, 1966 in Charleston, South Carolina) is an American musician. He is known mainly for his role as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, of which he has been a member since the band’s inception in 1986.

Parrish J. Smith (born May 13, 1968), better known as PMD (Parrish Making Dollars), is an east coast rapper from Smithtown, Long Island and one-half of EPMD.

Michael “Mike” Bibby (born May 13, 1978, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball point guard for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. He is a 6’2″ point guard and he attended Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the son of former NBA player Henry Bibby and Virginia Bibby.

Mickey Madden (born Michael Allen Madden, May 13, 1979 in Austin, Texas) is an American musician. Madden is best known for being the bassist in the pop rock band Maroon 5.

These are a few. Please feel free to comment with other names that didn’t make the list.

What does it take to be the best you can be? Doesn’t it start with a simple decision? Choose to be your best! Here’s what Jim Rohn says.

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.

To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all.

Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can? Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings.

Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of whom and what they have become.

- Jim Rohn

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I recently received this in an email and I thought it would be nice to share it with the masses.  I believe the author is Randall Redding. I hope it strikes a chord with you as it did for me!

You know, many of us have been around the block a few times in business. We have tried this, that and the other, and quite often it is one MLM after another. We have dreams that are important to us, and we get all jacked up and excited when one of these “opportunities” comes along. We sign up, tell a few folks about it and maybe even realize a little success. But then something happens. Things seem to slow down. The little bit of income that we may have had dwindles, and we just kind of lose sight of the dreams. Before long we are looking for another “opportunity.” Does this sound familiar?

I have seen a lot of this—even experienced some of it myself. Those that I know personally that have had major successes in business are those that have put their whole “might, mind and strength” into the opportunity they have chosen, put blinders on and then put the “pedal to the metal” as they say. As other “things” come along, they ignore them. They stay focused, and they succeed. Some of those that I know that have done this enjoy seven figures a year! I know some that may realize OK income chasing one thing after another, but they have NEVER reached the level of success, or security, that those with the blinders on have reached, and they are likely all members of the NFL club: No Friends Left.

As one moves from one opportunity to another, success evades them. After all, it takes time and commitment in any endeavor to reach the levels of success that we all seek. Then too, if it is too easy, where is the character building that comes from hard work and commitment? It seems to me that this is a significant part of the journey.

What ever your pursuit in life, stay committed. If you will do so, and if you will strive to have the heart and mind of a servant, you will find all the success you could ever want. Zig Ziglar said it a long time ago, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

Let’s build a Legacy, and let’s leave a Legacy to those we love. I am not talking about money here. I’m talking about a Legacy of Good Will, a Legacy of Service, a Legacy to be remembered by! Let’s get out there and do something good, because it needs to be done!

I thought I’d put together a list of my favorite National Anthem performances.

Marvin Gaye – he performed this at the opening of the 1983 NBA All-Star game. He turned this into the ultimate slow jam.

Jose Feliciano – he made it his own. Let’s us know Americans come in all colors

Jimi Hendrix – classic, enough said.

Whitney Houston – American pride at it’s best

Jennifer Hudson – at Superbowl 43. She showed a lot of courage after her family tragedy

Ronan Tynan – God Bless America. I know…but this song always gives me chills since 9/11

Time Magazine published their 10 Worst National Anthem Renditions

I thought I’d take a moment to change the subject. One of the greats died doing what he was meant to do today in Washington, DC. Harry Kalas died of a heart attack a few hours before he was due to call the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals game.

I fell in love with watching football back when I was a kid in the late 70′s, early 80′s. ESPN wasn’t what it is today, you didn’t have the NFL Network or the internet to catch up on NFL action. NFL games were played on Sunday & Monday nights only. So if you wanted to see the action from the other games, you had to watch the NFL Films highlights. Watching the highlights were special times for me. I remember the music they played and that man with the majestic voice. It was Harry Kalas that made the highlights so special. I think the music coupled with his narration gave football a regal quality.

Being a Yankees fan, I don’t recall hearing him as a Phillies announcer but I’m sure Phillie fans are sad like I am in knowing that they lost one of the greats. I will always miss that smooth delivery.

Here he is calling the Phils 2008 Champions

Harry Kalas rest in peace!

Other References to Harry Kalas

• Harry Kalas
• Harry Kalas goes out a World Champion
• Harry Kalas and Steve Carlton
• Harry Kalas Was Baseball
• Remembering Harry Kalas