Happy Veteran’s Day 2008.

Do you know the history of Veteran’s Day? If not sit down, as I tell you a bit about the history.

Veteran’s Day was originally called Armistice day celebrating the end of the first world war on November 11th, 1918.

In the 1950s, it was changed to a day to honor all veterans of America.

Many veterans have, and continue to give their lives so that we can claim the supreme privilege of having our freedom.

We should each take a moment today to sit in silence, and think of the many sacrifices of the Veterans who have given their life for this country.

As a believe in this country I honor and support our veterans and soldiers. I don’t support the reason they are fighting, I don’t support the Iraq war, but I do support our veterans. Today is their day. Tell a veteran that you know - how much their sacrifice has meant to you.

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America, I introduce you to the 44th President of the United States of America. Barack Obama. God bless the USA!

I’ve believed the polls, but the pessimist inside me, never would give up. I didn’t believe deep down inside that Change was fully possible. I had my relenting doubts.

A relief has washed over me, like none other I’ve ever felt.

I feel like a new man. Relating it to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, it feels like the day after the destruction at Mordor.

Yes, I’m a geek, and I can say that all my cynicism, and pessimism about the state of America has been washed away in a tidal wave named Barack Obama.

I’m so happy to see this day come, I’m white, and the fact that he’s black isn’t the biggest issue to me, but it is a big win for all African Americans. The biggest issue, is the end of the Bush administration’s failed policies.

An end to the Iraq war. To unequality in healthcare. To a possible living wage someday instead of a minimum wage that keeps people poor.

This is change, on a drastic level.

I’m listening to Obama’s acceptance speech right now, and he’s announced his children have earned the new puppy that will be coming with them to the white house. I must say as a dog person, I’m glad to have a first family that is as well.

I am saddened that Barack Obama’s grandmother didn’t make it see this great day. I’m sure that in the heavens above she is rejoicing at this great moment, and is very proud of her wonderful grandson.

I’m very impressed by John Mccain’s very touching, and moving concession speech. He said all the perfect words, and called for an united America.

I’m excited to see the next 8 years play out.

On a side note, I’m also happy to see Kay Hagen win out against Elizabeth Dole. After seeing her ‘godless’ ad running, and the rebuttal from Kay Hagen who has taught Sunday school, and is in no way a ‘godless’ candidate. I think there has been a mandate from the people, that we are tired of negative character and association attacks. That we want to hear candidates talk about the issues.

I’m also excited to see a filibuster proof congress, and the demise of the republican party in bulk. It may take decades for them to make a comeback, if ever.

I would love none else than to see the 2-party system disappear altogether, and see people run based on their own merit instead. I don’t know if we’ll ever be ready for that, but it would be exciting.

I just want to say that this is one American who after 8 years of shadow, is once again proud to be an American. Honestly, there were times over the past 8 years that I’ve been ashamed to call myself an American.

Now is the true dawn of a new day, it’s as if a hundred years of winter is fading, and spring is blooming. Spring is blooming in my heart. Call me sappy. (Excuse the Narnia reference, refer to the confession of my geek status).

We need to take this chance that we’ve been given, to go 100% and make the difference. We’ve been given a clean slate. We have been given an opportunity. If we waste this opportunity, then we will never have another chance as big as we have now. We can now work together and make this country relive its hayday. We can go back to those days.

Bottom line. I have hope again. I have faith. I believe in our New President. I believe in Barack Obama. I believe that we can do it. God bless all those who’ve made this possible, the divine hand of Providence is clearly present in this great election.

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So here I was… reading article after article after article on how to apply this new found knowledge from ‘the secret’ into my own life, and then I found some articles on the opposing view, which there’s opposition in everything, and I got to thinking how a little skepticism can be healthy - again only a little, a lot would be overdosing on that as well. There’s a saying in my church - Moderation in All Things.

Now I don’t discount the power of ‘the secret’ or the ‘law of attraction’, but I started thinking maybe I was being a little foolish going full headed into this, when I don’t really know what it all entails. So I took some time to meditate and ponder over ‘The Secret’ and the ‘Law of Attraction’ after some thought I believe it can be altered a little better to fit into my own belief pattern.

I’m an avid believer in my church, I’m LDS/ aka Mormon - and I know I might be considered odd by many, but some of the teachings of the Law of Attraction seem to contradict my religious heart, and seem odd to me.

As I said earlier my church has a popular saying ‘Moderation in all things’. I think it’s very well possible to over-do things a bit with living the law of attraction, but I’m saying this is only my idea of the way I personally need to live it.

I’m a very liberal person, I have never supported the Iraq war, and I have never supported our False President, however as a Mormon I can be quite conservative on some issues for instance Abortion. I’ve read a number of books on becoming a millionaire, one of my favorites is the Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. I’ve also read article after article on wealth creation. Then of course there’s this old adage by Benjamin Franklin that says “a penny saved is a penny earned”. Now I say this after I wasted money, that could be applied to my future, at Mc Donald’s, but I’ll admit I’m a work in progress.

The Meat of this post: A Somewhat Conservative Liberal Mormon’s viewpoint slash version of the Law of Attraction.

First off I want to say go and read about the law of attraction, watch ‘The Secret’ then come back and re-read what I have to say.

Now having been a dreamer and believer most my life and tried just about everything a man can try - From MLM Riches to HYIP Dreams to Autosurfs Folly, you name it I’ve been there, and on some I made some money for a little while but then lost everything.

I still hold dear to my heart the fact that I believe I can be everything I’ve dreamed about, I also believe altering my attitude and emotions can help me get there, and believing that I deserve the desires of my heart and that they are a worthy goal and desire.

I believe God gives us what we think we deserve rather than what we really deserve, and being an omniscient God he knows all of our deepest thoughts and knows our feelings of Guilt and Doubt. Do not doubt that you deserve something, or if you do doubt then work on overcoming that guilt and doubt, there is a way, wherever there is a will.
Patrick’s Personalized Law of Attraction:

1. Ask God for those things that you desire, ask with a sincere heart and be comforted knowing he will give you everything your heart desires, that he intends for you to have, if you have the faith, and if you don’t have the faith he may test your faith or wait till you do gain the faith required, the faith to move your mountains.
2. Pay Tithe’s to God, or if you don’t share the same beliefs as me it can be any charity, give 10% of what you earn back into society.
3. To gain time(aka freedom) and money you must give time and money, spend time each week giving of your time to others, by helping others you will not only giving of your time, but you will be showing God or the Universe(Whichever you believe) that you are worthy of your desires.
4. Pay yourself first, According to David Bach this is the single biggest way to gain wealth and retire early. To be above or at the rest of society he suggests saving 10%. To be greatly above the rest of society and acquire wealth faster he says you need to be saving 20-25% and this should be going into safe but profitable mutual funds and other long term investments.
5. Pay another 5% monthly into an emergency fund. You should have at least 1 year’s worth of funds in a savings account, before you increase the amount you pay yourself, a good rule of thumb is to pay 5% to yourself and 10% to your savings until you have your savings at one year, then you can increase your payments to yourself, you never know when a Hurricane Katrina might show up at your door, so it is essential to have this safety net.
6. Do whatever it takes to become a home owner. It’s a fact owning a home is a big step in becoming an Automatic Millionaire, your first home doesn’t need to be fancy, it doesn’t need to be huge, it could be an ex-chicken coup(trust me I’ve lived in one - remodeled of course) - just get ownership of a home, work as hard as you can to pay it off early then when you sell it you’ll have a huge down payment on a bigger home, then work hard to pay that off and you’ll have a nice down payment on another big home, or perhaps a nice size home and some investment properties, see where this going?
7. This is another of my own personal steps - it involves two different thoughts, first better yourself where possible so that you can get a better career, go back to school if needed, start a business if you can, etc. Secondly if possible do something on the side that will help you make more money, an extra $200-300 per month can relieve a lot of burdens, and lower your stress levels, I mean would you turn down an extra $3,600, a year? Someways to do this is yardsales, ebay, adsense, blogging if you can get a following, or do like my wife and sell baby bedding sets that cost her $15 to make for $70-$100 on local classified sites.
8. Fake it till you make it, believe in yourself and your dreams. Here’s where you’ll live the law of attraction - don’t doubt that you’ll receive what you want, keep at it until you do succeed, and most importantly never give up.