Midweek Motivation: Wednesday, September 8, 2010

“If we could all hear one another’s prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burdens.”  ~Ashleigh Brilliant

The cycle begins when we are very young. Just watch a group of youngsters around 3 or 4 years old at play. For a while, they play together nicely…laughing and giggling. Then, suddenly, it becomes “every man for himself “as they selfishly hog their toys or try to grab the toy from their fellow playmate. It is only through the watchful eye of a good parent and that parent’s discipline does the child eventually learn to share and think of others…not just themselves.

I think the same holds true for adults. We become so involved in our own tasks, goals, trials, and tribulations, that we do not take time to give of ourselves enough to others. It is only when we heed the voice or seek the presence of God that we begin to see the error of our ways. HE is our parent…ever watching over us and wanting to show us the great power in putting others first in our lives.

Speaking of trials and tribulations, have you ever noticed that it is only when we actively take our minds and focus off of ourselves that true power and solutions come our way? If you don’t notice this, then ask yourself, “Are you REALLY letting go of your own concerns to be truly and wholeheartedly concerned for another?”  Intercessory prayer (prayer for others) works because the focus and energy is directed outward towards someone else with the sole purpose to bless their lives.  And, whatever we put out (thoughts, energy, attitude, etc.) has to return back to us based on Universal Law. Thus, praying for others can only benefit us as well.  The problem is…we don’t do it enough. And this does not just apply to prayers.

Service to others has the SAME benefit. I personally have gotten the most inspiration, counsel, and direction through helping someone else in their time of need. Not only do you feel good, but you are tapping into the same Universal Law that is at work day and night creating our futures.  If we think of all of us as being connected, then it makes sense that what we do for others ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY has to come back around to us!  Take time to volunteer. Take time to spend time with someone who is shut in. Take time to call someone you haven’t spoken to in awhile. It is a small sacrifice of time that will net HUGE blessings in the long run.

The concept is simple, but extremely powerful. The “all about me” cycle will yield ZERO in our lives since we are not putting anything out there for God and the Universe to bless and multiply. However, if we actively seek to put others first and make it “all about others”, through prayer and/or service, then the harvest of help and blessings will be great for EVERYONE.

Again, I hope these words of encouragement bless not only single parents and teens out there, but that ALL will be blessed and encouraged.

Until next time…

Traci

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I HAVE SOMETHING BRAND NEW AND FUN TO SHARE

First of all, I want to express my gratitude for all of your help and support! This blog community has been growing steadily with subscribers and active participants … THANK YOU SO MUCH for supporting our mission to help teens, tweens, and single parents out there. Teens are starting to watch the trailer for the C.H.A.M.P. Experiment; other advocates, authors and on-profits are starting to connect with me at various networks and groups, too. This has been an incredible quarter thus far and I am filled with gratitude for such blessings.

YOUR SUPPORT DOES HELPS US REACH MORE SINGLE PARENTS, TEENS & TWEENS …

As I relaxed a bit over the Labor Day weekend, I starting planning new ways of reaching more single parents, teens and tweens. This lead to my  thinking, “Why don’t we break up some of this hard work and seriousness by adding in some … FUN … to this blog?” Within a few minutes, the ‘Blog Blitz Contest’ came to mind. I am excited to share this with you and hope that you like it enough to win the contest

WHAT IS ‘BLOG BLITZ’ AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

It is really easy … You get a chance to take home a pretty nice gift as well Starting October 1st, if you refer a subscriber to this blog (and that referral actually subscribes to our blog and makes at least 3 comments in the current quarter which will make them an active subscriber), then that referred person will be added to YOUR subscriber count.

The person who has referred the most active subscribers in a given quarter (and 10 active referred subscribers is the minimum to be in the running) will get a FREE paperback version of “The C.H.A.M.P. Within” program (valued at $34.97) and will be a featured “Blog Blitz Winner” on our next Heroes At Home TV Video Blog. This video reaches a bunch of people throughout the Internet, therefore this will make for a big WOO HOO!!! for the winner

NOT TO BAD FOR JUST REFERRING PEOPLE TO GET INFORMATION THEY NEED!

Your referrals can subscribe via email OR RSS feed. Just make sure that  your referral emails us your name, your email, and the names and emails of your referred subscribers to theblogblitz@gmail.com. This is important because we want to make sure to keep an accurate count of all of your referrals.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS BLOG BLITZ CONTEST STARTS OCTOBER 1ST, 2010

Happy referring, commenting and blogging to everyone!

Blessings!

Traci

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First Up: Youth Empowerment Coach and Family Peacemaker, Sarah Newton!!!

Because we gained a really good response and much support for Heroes at Home Radio (www.heroesathomeradio.com) over the last year, we decided to take it to the next level and add video along with it. And we call it, well, what else? You guessed it….Heroes at Home TV! Just like the podcast, I will bring you some pretty awesome people that are doing great things for single parents, teens, and those who are disadvantaged. Folks from all walks of life: authors, experts, entrepreneurs, teens, and single parents will be featured. We are just beginning, so please check out the very first installment of this video blog with yours truly, Traci S. Campbell, and my very first video blog guest, Sarah Newton (www.sarahnewton.com). We welcome your comments and feedback.

Blessings!

Traci

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Midweek Motivation: Wednesday, September 1, 2010

“A bell’s not a bell ’til you ring it A song’s not a song ’til you sing it Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay Love isn’t love ’til you give it away!”     ~Oscar Hammerstein II

I think we are all familiar with this same ole drill: You are mentally and emotionally beat up by the end of the week. On Saturday or Sunday, you spend time at your favorite place of worship and you feel recharged and motivated to conquer the world! But then, by mid next week, the same feelings of frustration, stress, and worry have taken over again. It is a vicious roller coaster…a constant spiritual war. The weekly Ferris wheel of trying to stay focused and motivated while the world is constantly throwing you curve balls has become the unfortunate norm for most of us! I am not immune to this syndrome either. And I have found that there is only one cure: to purposely motivate and encourage each other and ourselves daily. Notice, I used the word “purposely”. It is a choice. A decision; just like most things in life. Whether you are a card carrying Christian, like myself, or you practice another faith…it does not matter. Tapping into regular encouragement and support has nothing to do with religious denomination. It has everything to do with fighting the good fight of faith and being victorious in the spiritual battles we face everyday whether we realize it or not.

With that said, I decided it would be great to offer, as a token of my appreciation for those who regularly visit this blog, our websites, and give us their support, a weekly motivational blog post. I pray it will help someone out there to make it through the week or at least give some spiritual “food for thought” to those who are trying to strengthen their spiritual walk in life.

And speaking of “spiritual walk”, it all begins with one word: FAITH. We practice faith daily and may not even realize it: we have FAITH that we will wake up each morning. We have FAITH that the car or truck beside us will stay in its lane on the busy highway. We have FAITH that we will see our loved ones at home at the end of the day. We blindly trust that these things will happen. We don’t question it. We believe it. It just “IS” in our minds. Faith is the act of not just believing, but it is the act of “total confidence and trust in something”. However, when it comes to stepping out of our comfort zone – to embark on a new job, a new business venture, or to battle a sudden illness – our FAITH suddenly disappears. For this reason, I personally love the Oscar Hammerstein quote above. Just as song really isn’t a song until it is sung and love really isn’t love unless you give it to someone else, faith can not really be faith unless we put into practice. Believing in something is just the beginning. To see that ‘something’ show up in your life requires the additional step of faith – that extra step of confidence and trust. And to begin putting faith in action, means starting with prayer. Prayer, belief, and faith – that is the 3 step process to building our faith muscles. Whatever your goal or dream is, it will not become reality until you are willing to put some faith, not fear, behind it.

Again, I hope these words of encouragement blesses not only single parents and teens out there, but that ALL will be blessed and encouraged to practice a “faith workout” program daily in their lives.

Until next time…

Traci

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I am so glad that I had the opportunity to recently interview an exceptional single parent and entrepreneur. She built her business with very little initial support and some personal challenges along the way as well. Let me introduce you to SEO consultant, Lea Charlton.

Lea  is now living her dream as a work at home mother and the “driving force” behind the scenes of the successful internet-based consultancy, ALMC Solutions. Lea ventured into this Internet Marketing Industry because she needed a flexible way to provide for her family. As a single mother, she had been trying to change the quality of her family’s life for years until she learned how to use the Internet. In the late 1990′s, she learned all about the World Wide Web and developed her Internet Marketing skills during the “dot com” boom. She is a self-taught .COM professional and eventually returned to college for computer programming and business management after her initial success on the Internet. After gaining more experience in helping more clients obtain search engine rank increases, Lea became a full time Internet Marketing Specialist in 2004. As a native of “the steel city”, she chose the handle “Pittsburgh SEO Lady”. This was all done from her virtual office. ALMC Solutions now works with consultants throughout the US. Listen as she talks about how she did it while caring for a child with special needs (ADHD, ODD, Transitional Disorder, Asperger’s Tendencies).

I happen to have my conversation with Lea available via my podcast, “Heroes at Home Radio”. Go and take a listen at: www.heroesathomeradio.com . You can access her interview from the home page of the website or click the Podcasts / Videos link at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Blessings!

Traci

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Who would have thought that the beloved “Captain Kirk” (actor, William Shatner) would be in the hot seat when it comes to teen morality and teen values? Well, it appears that this is no longer a far-fetched notion.

William Shatner is slated to play the cantankerous lead character in a new sitcom scheduled to air on CBS this year titled, “(Bleep) My Dad Says.” However, the word “bleep,” is not part of the title.  Instead the title uses a series of symbols that I am sure most of us adults are familiar with, to suggest the expletive/profane word that comes from the book on which this new show is based.

In protest to this show’s title, The Parents Television Council went on a letter writing campaign that resulted in letters sent to 340 companies that advertise frequently on TV. The group is asking these advertisers to not advertise on this show unless the producers change the name of the show. As it turns out, even in this more “liberal” day and age, over 85% of parents are concerned about the heavy use of profanity on network TV. However, in a recent poll where over 1,000 American adults were surveyed, while 57% thought that TV now contains too much inappropriate content, the main concern was not profanity. Sex and violence topped the poll. Most thought that the amount of sex and violence on TV is having an adverse effect on today’s teens and compromises their morality.

But, true to form, the executives at CBS have found the “silver lining” in all of this hoopla. Top CBS entertainment executive Nina Tassler has been cited as saying that the network really hasn’t gotten any push-back from any other group than the Parents Television Council. And, that the complaints have “created a lot of buzz” about the series.

And, joining the controversial bandwagon, is another show slated to premiere on August 25^th on the Investigation Discovery network titled, “Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?” This nonfiction series follows couples with one spouse concealing a “shocking” secret from their spouse (Just minor things such as being a robber or a bigamist…yes, I am being sarcastic!). However, in this case, the actual word “bleep” is used in the title.

In my humble opinion, there is just no need for a blatant profane word to be used in ANY show’s title. Not to sound too “old-fashioned”, but some of the best shows (and movies for that matter) did not and do not need to rely on shock value to draw an audience or give a quality viewing experience for its audience. While it may be totally unrealistic to remove all inappropriate language and content in the world we live in today, more steps and measures can definitely be taken to work towards a more positive influence on the next generation (especially since they are a huge consumer of not only television, but video games as well). For those “techies” out there….the GIGO concept not only applies to computers. It also applies to the minds of young (and older) people in what they see and take in via TV, movies, etc. Garbage IN always equals Garbage OUT!

Until next time…

Traci

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While most of us are focused on the persistent recession, the rise of the unemployment rate, the more frequent occurrence of natural disasters, and, of course, celebrity gossip , there is a growing plague that will have a huge impact on the future of us all – illiteracy. As always, this particular menace is ever quiet, but also ever present in our society. According the Department of Communications and Public Affairs, illiteracy is a very expensive menace – costing American taxpayers about $25 billions dollars a year. To make matters worse, it is estimated that over 44 million adults are illiterate in the US and this number increases, on average, by 2.5 million each year. Illiteracy, along with poor communication skills, is a major contributor to criminal behavior, mental disorders, and teen suicide.

Among poverty stricken homes and neighborhoods (of which many are headed by a single parent), the illiteracy rate is out of control!  Since 46-51% of US adults are illiterate, they live below the poverty level.  Women, who are the head of most single parent households, account for two-thirds of the overall number of illiterate adults in the US.  In areas where poverty is prevalent, women who are illiterate bear five to six children on average whereas their more educated counterparts have only two children on average.  And, it has been determined, that the more access to education  and literacy skills an adult has, the greater the chances their children will succeed in school.

These following statistics paint an even bleaker, but factual, picture of the seriousness of illiteracy:

70% of people with the lowest literacy skills have no full or part time job.
75% of unemployed adults are illiterate.
75% of employed adults have difficulty reading and/or writing.
75% of those on welfare cannot read.
60% of American prison inmates are illiterate.
85% of juvenile offenders have difficulties reading

Given the statistics above on adult illiteracy, coupled with the growing obsession teens have with social media and computer games, it is not surprising that the notion of reading a book – I mean an actual book – has fallen by the wayside.  Teens and tweens emulate their parents and/or the adults in their lives.  It is not only crucial for adults to take their literacy seriously for their own livelihood, but it is also crucial for the future livelihood and survival of their children.  Illiteracy is a growing issue and only through the enforcement of reading in schools, in communities, and at home with parents (single as well as dual-parent homes) will our teens have the reading skills they need for a better future.

Until next time…

Traci

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In the past two weeks, a traditional “underground” game played by tweens and teens for many years, claimed the lives of two young girls. Angelena Ohanessian, age 14, was found unconscious in her bedroom closet with a cord tied around her neck in her Northwest Chicago home. She was pronounced dead two days later.  Rebekah Toia died by hanging herself from a cloth belt attached to the top of her bedroom door. She was an honor student at Chicago’s Whitney Young High School. She was just 15 years old. (See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-choking-game-deaths-20100814,0,1973010.story?track=rss)

In light of these two tragic deaths, more and more teens and tweens are talking about a game that has been around for many years. It has been a well-kept secret amongst young people ages 7-21. And, what is even more disturbing, the game is most “popular” amongst middle school age kids.

So what is this choking game?  Here is a very good description taken from the www.chokinggame.net site:

The Choking Game is played in both in groups and by a lone child. The object of the ‘game’ is asphyxiation, as in, to apply pressure restricting oxygen and/or blood flow to the brain.  This is accomplished by neck constriction and/or chest compression sometimes including hyperventilation.  Diminishing oxygen to the brain produces a sensation.  The ‘high’ are the cells of the brain seizing and beginning the process of permanent cell death.  When the victim is rendered unconscious, the pressure is released and the secondary ‘high’ of the oxygen/blood rushing to the brain is achieved. If the victim is alone – upon unconsciousness there is no one to release the pressure and the victims own body weight continues to tighten the ligature usually resulting in death.

Although the game is played more often by adolescent boys, an increasing number of girls are now participating. And why would ANYONE (young or old) want to play a game that could easily result in their death? Believe it or not, the most common answer is simply sheer curiosity. Some look it as a way to have a personal time out.  Also, peer pressure and the desire to get a “high” sensation are two other common reasons for this behavior. Unlike gang violence or petty theft, the choking game is played mostly by tweens and teens that are getting good grades and come from well-adjusted backgrounds. Thus, this activity could be happening right under the noses of most parents.

How can we prevent tragedies like Angelena and Rebekah from happening to other teens and tweens? The best way is to stay informed of what tweens and teens are doing and initiating the open and candid discussion with them. Be aware of what they are Googleing and searching for on the internet.  Be proactive and do not take this information lightly.  As young people are seeking more and more adventurous outlets, the resurrection of this so-called “game” in the current generation is nothing to laugh about.

Until next time…

Traci

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Sure, the term “Back to School” conjures up images of yellow school buses, lunch boxes, school uniforms, and a quieter household!   But, there is another type of “back to school” image that we are starting to see a lot more of….single parents hitting college campuses. Colleges are seeing a huge increase in the number of older, returning students on their campuses. And many of these students have children. More and more single parents are realizing their dreams of graduating from college and obtaining a more satisfying and better-paid career or business. Still, there are many single parents who want to quit their current job, but are afraid of the “risk”, especially in light of the current economic climate. However, isn’t it MORE of a risk not to invest in your future, which in turn affects the future of your children?  Shifting from a “fear-based” mentally to an “investment-based” mentality can make the difference. Think of going to college for four years as an investment. You are “investing” in your talents and the return on that investment will be evident after four years of your time. All advancement in life requires a level of risk; but that risk could yield big dividends for you and your household.

So now that we have the “fear” notion nipped at the bud, how can single parents comfortably afford to attend college? Well, the good news is that there are more and more scholarships and grants available to assist the single parent demographic. If you start your search on the internet, there will be many annoying pop-up ads or links that offer thousands of dollars in free money; unfortunately, most of these offers are not legitimate and many single parents have fallen victim to these scams. Start your search by directly contacting the schools you are interested in attending.  Many have localized scholarships tailored to the single parent.

There are also some national resources that the single parent can tap into. Here is just a sample of what is out there:

Women’s Opportunity Awards

The “Women’s Opportunity Awards” is a program is sponsored by www.soroptimist.org.  These must be submitted through the State, City, or Region in which you live. They accept applications between July 1st and December 1st each year.

The Jeannette Rankin Foundation

“The Jeannette Rankin Foundation” provides single parent scholarships to single mothers ages 35 and older. The applicant must currently be enrolled in an accredited college program and must show financial need because this scholarship aims to help those in the low-income bracket.

“Raise the Nation”

“Raise the Nation” is a program that offers single parent scholarships to not only single mothers, but also their college aged children. They offer continuing education scholarships, loan repayment grants, and scholarships for children who have been raised by a single mother only.  A small fee required ($20) for processing the student’s application.

The Assistance League

“The Assistance League” is a foundation that offers several single parent scholarships (single moms AND dads) to deserving applicants every year. This foundation has several programs that are community based to help single parents to return to school.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Start with the above, but be strongly encouraged to seek additional sources at the local level. You may be surprised at just how easy returning to school for the single parent can be!

Until next time…

Blessings!

Traci

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WARNING: May be offensive and/or downright agitating to adults…especially parents out there!

I had to put that disclaimer up front because, quite frankly, it angered me! A Swiss company, Lamprecht AG, a leading condom manufacturer in Switzerland, has decided to cash in on the fact that kids (specifically those under the age of 15) are engaging more and more in sexual relations. So, instead of trying to discourage tweens from having sex in the first place….this company has decided to help them out! “Hot Shot” is the newest condom that is designed to fit the size of the male organ of most 12-14 year olds (actual size is 7.4” x 1.7″) Simply, unbelievable. 

While the condom is currently only available in Switzerland, the migration of this to the American market is only a matter of time. And, as you would expect, there are two sides to this argument. Is it wiser (or easier) to steer young kids from getting involved in sex – which, of course, carries a lot of responsibility along with the pleasure – OR provide a safe guard for them against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases – since the pressure to have sex is steadily growing amongst this age group? While we all know that kids having sex is not exactly a new phenomenon, the “throwing in the towel” approach and supporting the behavior is definitely NOT the answer! Instead, what about trying to instill the right mindset and values in them while they are young and before regrettable life altering events (like teenage pregnancy) occur?

At what point do we stop using “safe sex” as an excuse with young people to avoid the harder and more challenging work of educating them and guiding them to wait until they are truly ready to be sexually active? And when do we, as the consumers, put more accountability on businesses and the media to look beyond profits and be more mindful of the future – their physical and mental health – of the current generation?

What do you think? I truly can not wait to get the feedback on this one!

Until next time…

Blessings,

Traci

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