Body Language

Your body language shows whether you are a powerful or low-key person.

Powerful people use their bodies to convey authority. The boss who raises his feet over the desk, fingers interlaced behind his head, elbows expansive. There are pictures of presidents in the Oval Office striking this pose while their advisers smile nervously.

Another more subtle way to convey power is the hawk-like posture, leaning toward your interlocutor. In general, the powerful person will tend to occupy as much space as possible.

It was recently found through a lab study that more powerful people—those who make more money or have higher status jobs—reliably show higher level of testosterone, no matter their gender, and lower level of stress hormone cortisol, than people lower on the totem pole.

Researchers at Columbia University tested forty-two shy people, gave them a piece of gum to chew then ask them to put their feet on a desk and then to stand in the hawk-like position. Fifteen minutes later, they had to spit in a tube. The spits were sent to the lab to be analyzed. The results showed that their testosterone has doubled in the short time they spent in the power position.

Conversely the testosterone level dropped significantly when the participants sat with their shoulders slumped or stood with ankles crossed and arms hugging their torsos. These are typical low-power postures.

Are your heroes projecting themselves as power people?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.
Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON.
http://www.monarisk.com/

Resolutions OR Goals

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. Stephen Brennan

According to psychologists:
Resolutions are changes that we desire to make. Unfortunately we drop them or forget them when we lack commitment, drive or motivation. Often time if we don't achieve the end result quick enough, we lose interest and go back to our old way.

Resolutions require not only taking action but sticking to the course no matter how tired or discouraged we become.

Remember it takes 21 consecutive days to break a bad habit and often several months to change a behavior.

A goal is an explicit commitment. It focuses our attention on a target and helps us find ways of getting there. When we commit to a goal, we are demonstrating faith in ourselves and our ability to achieve a future we have envisioned.

According to statistics:
The most popular goals are: losing weight, exercising, saving money, changing jobs, going back to school, quitting smoking, reducing stress, spending more time with the family, volunteering.

Resolutions and goals should be specific, realistic, and clear. Write them on a card and keep it next to your computer. Read them daily to check yourself.

Here are my resolutions and goals.
1- Eat vegetable and proteins, avoid sweet--------- to lose 10 lbs
2- Walk 2 to 5 miles three times a week----------- to stay healthy and active
3- Write 500-1000 words a day or edit 2 to 3 chapters ------ to finish and polish the three books I started and abandoned.
4- Submit the manuscript--------to be published.
Did you write your resolutions and goals?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.

Rx FOR TRUST winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON.

http://www.monarisk.com/

The year 2010 is over

The year is almost over.

Good and bad.

Sad and fun.

Productive and lazy.

No matter what we did, we keep on going and hope to do better next year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

to my family, my friends, my readers and fans.

I love you.

Christmas at my place

The week before Christmas was hard as I kept thinking that Mom would not be with us for Christmas. Also I took a box of cookies and went to the assisted living to wish a Merry Christmas to the ladies who were taking care of Mom. Going back to the place where I visited her every day was horrible. I hardly stayed half an hour. To distract myself, I cooked a lot and prepared the Christmas Eve's dinner and Christmas Day's lunch.
But I had a wonderful Christmas time with my four grandchildren playing, screaming, running, and having the time of their life in spite of grandpa ordering them to stop running every ten minutes. We have two gay scrooges leaving on the floor beneath us. When the kids run, they hit their ceiling with a broom, or call and yell to "stop the damn kids from running". Thank God, they didn't do it this year, so I will give them a box of cookies for New Year to thank them for their new understanding.

On Christmas Eve I had twelve adults and the four little ones for dinner. They told me everything was delicious. The kids opened their presents before dinner and later entertained us with a special show they put together.
On Sunday, we all went to Mass, my children, their spouses and their children. The young parents spent their time whispering to their little ones to be quiet and behave. I thought my grandchildren were perfectly well behaved, their intermittent chats blissfully covered by the choir's songs. The people in the rows behind us must have thought the same as they constantly smiled at the little ones. We had lunch early as my daughter was leaving at 5 and driving three hours to Melburn. A neonatologist by profession, she's on call for four days and has agreed to cover the delivery room of that hospital during the Christmas holiday.

An hour before she left, we took the kids to the park. Little Madelyn, (4) jumped on the monkey bars, got scared and called Mommy. Well, Mommy ran, jumped up and tried to come down carrying her. I was running behind her and caught Madelyn from her just in time for Mommy not to fall on the ground. But she twisted her back and fractured a rib. She hadn't yet recovered from a reconstructive surgery on her ankle. In spite of that, she left for Melburn after swallowing a Motrin for the pain.

Yesterday my daughter-in-law and I took the three girls to see the movie, Tangled, the story of Rapunzel. We ate pop-corn and then went to Target to buy books about Rapunzel, and a nice Rapunzel brush for their hair. The stores were packed with parents and children, as if shoppers have decided to do their shopping after Christmas rather than before. With the lousy economy, it's not surprising.

After the kids finally slept, the adults played cards. With drinks, appetizers and a lot of laughter when five adults, with competitive minds, are determined to win.
And today my son and his family left. The house is suddenly too quiet, but I still have my two little girls.

God bless the children who make Christmas such a joyous time.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.
Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON.
http://www.monarisk.com/

Women Leadership

Do you believe in women leadership? I always did. During my career as a chemist I continuously fought to improve women’s conditions and status at work.

I remember the quip of one of my male employees. “Hey boss, I am a young white male. Why do I feel like a minority here?” The whole staff burst out laughing. But Jim had a point here. In my lab there were a few more women than men. Not that I hired more women on purpose. Qualified chemists were difficult to find. We had to train the new hires. The hours were long, the job difficult and highly stressful with many government regulations, strict quality control and deadlines. Some chemists couldn’t cope with the pressure. Women seemed more resilient. [Jim, if you read this. Know that you were one of the best chemists I ever had. You survived.]

When I started my own career I had two small children and I worked at a time when a woman was asked questions considered discriminatory today.
Who will take care of your kids when you are at work? The best daycare, not that it is any of your business!!.
Are you going to take off when they are sick? What do you think, am I going to let them stay alone at home!!
Can you stay long hours and overtime if necessary? Yes, sir, I am a professional. I have the feeling I will work harder than any man here to prove myself!!

Yes, I did work harder to prove myself. And I succeeded in my career and got promoted.

But I always understood how difficult it was for a woman to make it in a man’s world. As a result I ran my the Analyitical Division and the laboratory in my own way, differently from other work places.

Young mothers could take off when their kids were sick. They could come later or earlier than the classical 8:00am. Providing they put their forty hours a week and delivered their results on time, I didn’t care how they manage their schedule. A young mother with a sick kid could work in the evening when her husband was back from work and stay home with the sick child during the day.

Flexibility was the name of the game. With good salaries and regular increases, my employees didn’t mind hard work as long as they organized their hours themselves. As a result, chemists stayed for years in my lab which was famous for its low turnover and reliable staff.

Exhausted by my heavy responsibilities to corporate, to my staff and to the laboratory’s clients, and burnt out by the incredibly long hours of work I imposed on myself, I took an early retirement. A year later, the lab closed. My employees had no trouble finding jobs elsewhere, thanks to their thorough experience and the excellent references we gave them. After being the boss for many years, I am now the good old friend who likes to hear about their family news.

In my new career as a published author, I create heroines who believe in women leadership and have successful career as chemist, doctors, architect,...

As the corporate office celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, the actual officers surprised me with this certificate of achievement.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.
Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON.
http://www.monarisk.com/

A priceless video

The birth of Jesus IF he was born in our time.

Click on the link for a good laugh!!! The one who puts this trailer is a genuis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vZrf0PbAGSk


All my books available at Amazon.con

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

A special person A special story

I remember seeing the movie, The Nun, staring Audrey Hepburn, years ago but I have never attended a real profession of perpetual vows. How many of you had attended such a ceremony?

Last week, thirteen members of my family headed to the boonies of Texas, and a place called Prayer Town built in the desert. Prayer Town is home to a Franciscan Charismatic Religious community. We stayed at the convent to attend the celebration of vows of a lovely opera singer who left the glitter of a promising career and became a humble nun.

Baskets of flowers decorated the big chapel as if a wedding was about to take place.

Her face radiant, Sister RM walked toward the altar between her mother and father, wearing her usual gray robe and navy chasuble and holding a bouquet of flowers. A beautiful corsage contrasted with her severe outfit.

While the music played, the guests sat on the left side of the church, and Sister RM sat on the right side with the congregation of nuns.
A bishop had traveled to Prayer Town to celebrate the special Mass and bless the new nun.

During the Mass, Sister RM knelt in front of the bishop and answered his questions. At some point, she lay down on the floor while everyone knelt and prayed.

The bishop blessed her. Her face glowing with happiness, she stood and pronounced her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Then the bishop slid a silver ring on her finger.

After the religious part, came the civil one. Sister RM signed official papers in which she renounced all her possessions and inheritance. Two witnesses signed the documents that would be sent to the county.

A catered reception followed the ceremony attended by the family of Sister RM, the nuns and about fifty friends from the neighboring areas.

After the buffet lunch, Sister RM cut her cake, a sumptuous cake decorated with a cross, and then the entertainment started.

Some of the nuns and family members related anecdotes about Sister RM. The nuns played music and sang. But at the general request, Sister RM sang a scene from Romeo and Juliette, and another from La Traviata. Her incredible voice filled the place and gave me goose bumps. Here is a sweet young woman who has dedicated her life and talents to the service of God and the needy.