And here's why. I'm currently reading  The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance and it's screwing with my head space -- in a good way. I thought I really understood these principles… not the case. Truthfully, I've known about them, but chose to practice them according to my  own guidelines and mostly when it was convenient.

Secretly I asked: Really? One tenth? Gross or net? Is it negotiable? Author, Edwene Gaines gives you the skinny on what & why. She says, "tithing is the prosperity principle that brings up the most resistance in people, a resistance that comes from a fear that there will not be enough to go around." Hence the challenge, because the lesson we need to learn is that we live in a lavish and abundant world, where all our wants and needs will always be provided for "- if we're to make the journey to prosperity.

If you choose to do it, there will be days when it's easy and days when it'll be hard. The hard days are where the most growth happens. As with any other success formula, you have to follow it all the way to get the promised results. With current economic pressures you may think this is not the time to start tithing, but maybe that's exactly why it is time.

Thanks to Lisa Sasevich for sending me this book and  heartfelt gratitude to Edwene Gaines for writing it. It's been a gift I needed without knowing I needed it. It's encouraged me to reexamine beliefs and habits I'd fallen into. Each day since receiving  The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity there's been new insight and deeper understanding, unexpected surprises and the occasional test to see if I'm really committed.

Do yourself a favor and get a hold of this book. Do yourself an even bigger favor and put the Laws into practice.

If it scares you, JUMP IN!

Jump into your life!

Deb

Btw, in the past, even when I thought I was tithing I made up my own rules about what could qualify: like pro bono work, volunteer hours, charitable donations of goods. Not the case… grab the book for your own clarity.

Chicago, IL, July 2011 --

Would you ever make any of the following statements to the kids in your life? “You’re not good enough! You’re not pretty! You’re not very smart! You talk funny! You look weird! You’re fat! You’re dumb! You can’t do anything right!”

Of course you wouldn’t! But guess what? Our kids – whether age 2 or age 20 – are bombarded with those EXACT messages day after day after day.

From the bully at school. From the internet. From the music on their iPods.

From the airbrushed photos of unattainable perfection in our magazines. From the highly sexualized images of young children promoted by clothing advertisers.

From the toddlers being spray tanned and botoxed and trained to gyrate and preen on stage for the title of ultimate beauty queen.

Everywhere they look, everywhere they go, everywhere they turn, our kids receive the message “You’re not good enough! You’re not pretty enough! You’re not smart enough! YOU are not enough!” day after day after day.

And as hard as we may try, we can’t stop this destructive message from getting through. It’s in the grocery aisle among the magazines. It’s on TV during family hour. It’s in school when they come in contact with kids whose parents aren’t as aware. It is everywhere!

I think you already know. Just consider the mind gunk that you picked up as a kid and the struggle that’s created for you even as an adult.

As an author, a speaker and a coach for the past 25 years, I’ve worked very successfully with adults to help them erase this mind-trash and achieve wondrous things. What I’m seeing now is that the adults are coming to me with ever more destructive messages deeply embedded in their psyche than they did just 10 years ago...

It’s getting worse and it has to stop! That’s why I wrote a book called “The Magic Mirror and The Grandma Message” and have started The Encouragement Movement. These are tools to help give our kids a fighting chance against these destructive messages.

First, purchase a copy of "The Magic Mirror and The Grandma Message" for all the kids in your life aged 0 to 10. Your kids, your grandkids, your neighbors’ kids, your nieces and nephews. And remember to get an extra copy for yourself. Inside the book is a very special message for grownups that you will find very powerful.

Then, join The Encouragement Movement by going to www.TheMagicMirrorBook.com.

The Encouragement Movement will help you use the incredible power of repetition and consistency – just like those advertisers and the media use – for encouraging your kids rather than destroying your kids! Once you sign up, you’ll receive consistent, on-going tips and techniques for encouraging, empowering and uplifting all the kids in your life (even those over 30!)

You see, advertisers are not going to stop selling their skimpy clothes to 4 year olds. Magazines are not going to stop airbrushing their covers. Beauty pageants won’t stop pushing the grotesque fantasy of the ultimate spray-tanned and botoxed 6 year old beauty queen.

But you don’t have to accept those messages. Be a force for positive change in your world now!

Techniques for Using The Magic Mirror Book

Chicago, IL, June 2011 --

Very soon after birth, a baby's brain begins producing trillions of neural connections - way more than it can ever possibly use. Neuroscientists have confirmed that this massive growth spurt ends around the age of 10 and the brain then begins to ruthlessly destroy the weakest links. Only those links which have been magically transformed by experience will be kept for future use.

A caring, stimulating environment literally grows a bigger brain. Love and activity increase the brain's weight, number of neural connections, and ultimately its complexity and raw intelligence.

This is why using The Magic Mirror Book (love) along with an activity (reading together, looking in a mirror as you recite the message, using hand motions with the message) is such a powerful combination for permanently building and strengthening your child’s self-esteem.

Reading The Magic Mirror Book over and over with a child, while participating in an activity, can imprint an indestructible sense of positive self-worth and self-belief in that child. Later life experiences, no matter how destructive or negative, will not be able to destroy or erase that sense of high self-worth. Some of the activities our readers have developed for themselves are:

• One little girl created her own personal “magic mirror”, decorated it with blue and pink paint and wrote the words to The Grandma Message on the back.
• A kindergarten teacher and her students created a tune to sing along to the words of The Magic Mirror.
• Another family reads the book aloud together -parents reading to children, children reading to parents, and older children reading to younger children.

Share it with Deborah at deb@deborahbattersby.com.

“Imagine the impact we each could make if we used ’The Grandma Message’ with the children and babies in our lives,” says Deborah. “Not only would their lives be changed, our world would be changed as well.”

Imagine if babies actually understood every word we said. No doubt, we‟d be a lot more careful about the words we used in the presence of infants.

Astounding as it may seem, scientists recently at the University of California, San Diego discovered that babies just over a year old process words they hear with the same brain structures as adults, and in the same amount of time. The researchers also found that babies were not merely processing the words as sounds, but were capable of grasping their meaning.*

The power of words - and how we internalize them - is something author, speaker and coach Deborah Battersby has devoted her life to understanding.

“The words we heard as young children, whether encouraging or discouraging, have played a very strong role in how each of us ‟turned out„, says Battersby. “What we believe about life, about ourselves and about what we‟re capable of, were all molded in very early childhood by the words we heard around and about us.”

Deborah‟s passion for „teaching the children differently‟, has led to the publication of her book “The Magic Mirror and The Grandma Message”.

“This book arose from a practice that I began with my own grandchildren: The Grandma Message practice. It's all about telling the children in your world how amazing they are, that they are loved and cared for at all times, and they don't have to do or be anything to earn your love.”

Now we know that even babies can understand and internalize these very powerful words.

“Imagine the impact we each could make if we used ’The Grandma Message’ with the children and babies in our lives,” says Deborah. “Not only would their lives be changed, our world would be changed as well.”

Deborah Battersby is founder of The Battersby Group and creator of emMatrix, a transformational coaching model. Her company helps its global clientele shatter preconceived limits and achieve greater success through individual and team empowerment. Having trained with Tony Robbins and other prominent leaders in the personal development field, Deborah is known for getting fast, powerful and lasting results.

Faith in boundless human potential is what drives her mission. She has a huge passion for helping children and adults see and know their value and confidently, authentically express it to the world.

Headquartered in the Chicago area, The Battersby Group offers one of the nation‟s most innovative, leading edge and effective coaching methodologies for the development of high functioning performance and realization of individual potential.

*Spatiotemporal Neural Dynamics of Word Understanding in 12- to 18-Month-Old-Infants, Oxford University Press Journal Cerebral Cortex, January 5, 2011.

Click here to visit Ariene's site.

Grandma’s Magic Mirror: A Letter to Grownups

I have long been aware of the power of words to uplift or deflate, inspire or demoralize. Your words not only create your reality they shape the reality of the children and/or impressionable souls around you.

On some level, words of encouragement and discouragement have molded your beliefs about life, about yourself and about what’s possible.

Knowing this, I wondered, how can we help kids grow their confidence and belief in themselves? What came about – and what I’m so excited about! – is a children’s book which has just been published.

This book arose from a practice that I began with my own grandchildren: The Grandma Message practice. It is offered here as a strategy for intentionally instilling healthy, empowering beliefs in those you love and influence.

The practice is simple. It’s all about telling the children in your world how amazing they are, that they are loved and cared for at all times, and they don’t have do or be anything to earn your love.

My granddaughters Rowan and Sylvia were three and four when we started the daily phone calls that became: The Grandma Message

Making the calls became a habit. Some days the girls were cranky and didn’t want to talk, so I’d leave a voicemail message. They’d sometimes whine, “You always say the same thing, it’s boring.” Chuckling, I said, “I’ll always tell you how amazing you are and how much you’re loved.” What’s funny, though, is that the girls were quick to remind me if I forgot something they particularly liked. Rowan would say, “What about brave, Grandma? We’re really, really brave.” Sylvia loved “smart” and “beautiful and made sure I always included that part.

Within weeks, the girls started giving Grandma Messages to each other. Sylvia gave one to Rowan when she was crying and didn’t want to go to preschool, reminding her how brave and clever she is. Rowan gave several to Sylvia to keep her from quitting in her efforts to cross the monkey bars. “You’re strong, practice and believe,” she nudged.

Their dad got his share of Grandma Messages too. Once he called home saying he’d be late due to a problem at work. The girls knew what to do. Daddy needed a Grandma Message. Stephen swears it did the trick. He called back a few minutes later and said he was on his way.

One morning, after a sleep over, Rowan asked to call her mom. Secretly dreading she was going to cry and ask to go home, I handed her the phone only to hear her say, “Hi, Mommy. You’re beautiful, brave and smart. You can do anything in the whole wide world. What do we say?” My heart melted, tears streamed down my cheeks; unprompted, a three-year-old was passing it on.

Giving the messages was simple, easy and apparently contagious. I wished I had done this for my children. But wait, they’re still my children; I could still do it. So I called them. My husband was next. I called his cell phone and got voicemail. I left his Grandma Message anyway. Three weeks later it was still saved in his voicemail.

Getting sincere words of love and encouragement for NO REASON seemed to appeal to everyone. Even impromptu messages to friends resulted in immediate replies of: you have no idea how much I needed this.

A friend, concerned about her seven-year-old grandson whose parents were divorcing, needed a way to give him extra support. She started her practice; now they’re having a great time, enjoying the precious minutes shared each day.

Can mere words help someone feel loved and special? Can your words help the people in your life see their value and worthiness? Can hearing your words of encouragement make a difference to someone you care about? If you believe they can, then join in The Grandma Message project. Empower someone daily with the gift of your words of affirmation. Consider the ripple effect of these messages circulating throughout the world every day. If one life is inspired, you have changed the world for the better.

Let’s “teach the children differently.”