English Rugby - Back on Track ?

The 2004/5 season was a bad year for English international rugby. Those heady days of 2003 down under and Jonny Wilkinsons last minute drop goal seemed a long way away as Wales completed a marvellous year by beating us 11-9 in the final match of the six nations.

It started well enough, business as usual in a 70-0 walloping of the Canadians and on the back of that, a hard fought, but impressive 32-16 win over the springboks. From there a mistake ridden performance against Australia allowed the Aussies a 19-21 win at Twickenham. In all, the autumn international results were not overly worrying. However the performance against Australia exposed some serious weaknesses in the England team which continued into the six nations in early 2005. Handling in particular was appalling and the discipline of the side seemed to have gone, giving away needless penalties in areas we should not have. The outcome of this was that the England team finished fourth in the table, our worst placing for many years, and headed into the summer with a lot of work to do.

So it was with a sense of trepidation that England fans sat down to watch the opening autumn international of the 2005/6 season against Australia, once again without the talismanic injury prone Jonny Wilkinson. A solid enough performance with English forwards dominating the game, but once again our backs looked short of ideas and were often to flat to break the aussies line. Andrew Sheridan was outstanding at prop as the English scrum destroyed the Australians, but too often the backs were unable to capitalise on good ball won. The big plus of this game, apart from the emergence of Sheridan as a world class player, was the assuredness of the performance of Charlie Hodgson, criticised for his kicking misses the previous year. At last it seemed as if England had a capable kicking replacement for the now mythical Jonny Wilkinson.

A good start, but the real test was still to come, having beaten probably the weakest Australian touring side for many years, England needed to step up a gear against the All Blacks a week later. New Zealand fielded their strongest side, and it was very impressive. Characterised by the fact that they could afford to leave players such as Joe Rokococo on the bench until the 80 th minute called for a spot of time wasting!

England competed well and it was a close game with England striking early through forward power as Martin Corry drove over the line. For the rest of the game, England struggled to restrain the powerful running of the kiwis and an England back line picked for its tackling ability rather than its flair had plenty of work to do in that department.. The referee had a big part to play in this match and seemed to set his stall out to not allow the English forwards to dominate the game, but in the second half yellow carded two kiwis for repeated scrum infringements as they struggled to contain the English pack. Overall the 19-23 score line was probably a fair reflection of the match.

The following weeks run out for some of the squad players against Samoa was pretty predictable fare. England dominating the match and could have had more points but for some poor decision making in trying to spin the ball wide too early.

So going into the six nations England seem to be in better shape than this time last year, yet still there are still several components lacking in the current line up. Martin Corry has proved a good tactical captain but is certainly no Martin Johnson or Lawrence Dallaglio. There is a visible lack of this type of character on the field, someone who is capable of taking the game by the scruff of the neck either by sheer force, or force of personality. Anyone who saw the emotion on Lawrence Dallaglios face before the world cup final will know exactly what this means. Whilst the forwards are performing well, there are still question marks over the throwing of Steve Thompson, who consistently fails to hit his line out calls and probably only retains his place on the strength of his all round ability.

In the backs, Mike Tindall retains his place as one of the best tackling centres in world rugby, but at times his handling and decision making are woeful. The unfortunate James Simpson Daniel who does at least provide some of the missing attacking flair managed only half of the match against Samoa before being injured. England are lacking that crucial element of attaching flair in the middle of the park. They need to find someone who can break the opposition line with moments of individual brilliance, such as the recently retired Jason Robinson. There are several contenders for this position yet to be given a serious run in the team as the England management under Andy Robinson seem to be more concerned about loosing individual matches than building a team to defend the world title in two years time. At scrum half England have, in Harry Ellis, finally found a replacement for the aging limbs of Matt Dawson and the future looks bright for Harry with Matt perhaps being retained as the experience in the squad.

There is a serious danger that this England team will once again be undone in the six nations this coming year with the French (provided they can hold their discipline) looking very strong. It will take a huge increase in creativity and consistency for England to regain their position as the northern hemisphere champions and perhaps the autumn internationals should have been used to blood new players, regardless of results

John Millward http://www.lazybugger.com

Bodhi

How To Be Well Nourished In Your Relationship

It's delicious to feel well nourished in relationships. There's a yearning and hunger we bring to our partners for all kinds of food: warmth, kindness, appreciation, time spent together. However, when food is not forthcoming or not enough, some will do anything to get fed. Right from the moment we are born, we connect being fed with being loved.

Many become fixated on one person, who they see as their sole source of well-being. The first thing to notice is the intense desire for receiving. This is the idea of the child - feed me and all will be well.

We must be aware of all kinds of food, emotional, mental and spiritual that are needed in a complete relationship. It is necessary to stop a moment and recognize what we are consuming in a relationship, is it healthy, is it food our system can digest? We can eat all day, but if we do not taste and digest what we are eating, we will never receive the nourishment we need. Some spend all their time wanting to change their partners. "There's so much that's wonderful about him," they say, "but what I'm hungering for, I don't get. I need more excitement."

Rather than go to another relationship, where they can get the excitement' they think they want, they stay, feeling dissatisfied. It's as though their partners are an apple tree, giving fabulous apples, while they are longing for pears. Rather than walk down the street to the pear tree and take one, they rail against the apple tree, which could not produce a pear, no matter how hard it tried.

But remember, you will never turn an apple tree into a pear tree. Some of us are simply addicted to being dissatisfied. But in order to live a life of being in love, we must learn to take what is given and offer thanks in return. If we spend all our time wanting to change the person, rejecting their essential qualities, not wanting or valuing what they basically give, this is a sure fire recipe for nausea.

We must become able to absorb what is useful and discard the rest. It is important to honor and be grateful for that which we receive or we become bitter and spend all our time focussing upon that which the person is not able to provide.

Feeding Others We Are Fed

Being in a successful relationships means learning how to appreciate the needs of others, and being willing to completely fill them, on time. As we do this, a strange thing happens, our own hunger completely fades away. Feeding others, we are fed ourselves. Our relationships turn around 180 degrees.

It no longer becomes a question of what the other is or isn't giving. It's a question of what can be offered to him or to her. As we place our attention upon the needs of others and find ways of giving to them, not only does our hunger subside, but we begin to feel full. As we do this, we develop parental mind.

Parental Mind

Parental mind is the state of mind that wants to care for and nourish others. It is the mind of the mother with a newborn child. A state of unconditional regard for the world we live in. It is not a mind which keeps accounts or continually needs to be filled up and attended to.

Parental mind develops naturally as we sit in zazen, (zen meditation). By sitting we feed our own deep hunger and become in touch with the flow of nourishment always available to us all. That flow of nourishment can also be called the action of being in love.

Discover the surprising truths about love in top selling program Save Your Relationship (21 Basic Laws to Successful Relationships). Get copy at http://www.truthaboutlove.com, Psychologist and award winning author has helped thousands. Get free ezine and articles at http://www.brendashoshanna.com, topspeaker@yahoo.com

Action is the foundational key to all success

10 Keys To Personal Goal Setting

Does personal goal setting work? Many people want things, situations or accomplishments, call these goals, and then are disappointed when they don't get them. Call desires goals if you want, but just naming your desires sure isn't effective goal setting. Good goals have some or all of the following:

1. They are specific. "I want to be healthy" is too general. "I want to lose weight and walk three times a week," is better.

2. They are measurable. How many pounds do you want to lose? How much money do you want to make? How will you know if your relationship is better?

3. They are in writing. There is power in writing down your goals. It makes them more real, and this influences your subconscious mind, especially if you review the goals regularly.

4. They are realistic. Sorry, but even if it is possible that you could become an astronaut, if you're already 55, you better try for becoming a pilot for now. Unrealistic goals set you up for failure.

5. They have deadlines. You'll have a new job by when? Setting dates really helps your progress.

6. They become plans. Making a goal into specific steps makes it much more likely. It isn't overwhelming to take one step at a time.

7. They are motivated. Having the goal for the right reasons is a good start. You should also learn how to re-motivate yourself, and reward yourself when you make progress.

8. They consider personal factors. Can you really get what you want if you feel like you don't deserve it? Maybe, but good goal setting takes into account personal changes that are necessary or useful.

9. They are followed by action. One of the keys to motivation and to getting where you want to be is to start with any movement towards the goal. Action begets action. Start slow if you must, but start.

10. They are not written in stone. Goals naturally evolve. Why would you become a doctor once you learned that you liked doing lab work better?

The last one is a tough one. An excuse and a change of course are not the same thing, but to know the difference means you need a certain level of self-awareness. Develop that, apply the keys to personal goal setting above, and you'll get to where you want to be.

Steve Gillman writes on many topics including brainpower, weight loss, meditation, habits of mind, creative problem solving, generating luck and anything related to self improvement. Learn more and get FREE e-courses at http://www.SelfImprovementNow.com

Reported Miracles

Relaxation, Inspiration, & Procreation

Relaxation is for recuperation
Not excessive exacerbation
About feeling unproductive
Accusing yourself of being
Lazy, a loser, or lethargic
On the contrary workaholic
Relaxation is most therapeutic
As it heals you bodily and within
Reinvigorating and empowering
You to mightily rise up again to win
To rebound from the stress of the day
To mentally overcome by childlike play
As you cast all your cares far away
Sit, settle down, wipe away the frown
Let go of all your troubles and rejoice
Meditate and listen to your inner voice
Forget frustration and all irritation
Find some time for fun and recreation
As you do, good things will come to you
Including new sensations and inspiration
As you simply set your intention
To reach your desirable outcome
But predetermine along the way
To also have some fun
While you get the job done
And not be overwhelmed or overcome
By any circumstantial thing or anyone
Let go of all the built up tension
Remove all fear and apprehension
Relax the muscles of aggravation
Stretch and soothe thyself fully
Celebrate your amazing trilogy
Combination of spirit, mind, and body
Rest will for sure revitalize and refresh
While enabling you to be your very best!
Therefore overcome the doer in you
Discipline thyself and win this test
To calm your nerves and not swerve
Into imbalance, disharmony, and excess
Refuse to become rigid and frigid
Severe and unwilling to hear
Remove yourself from such defiance
Practice beyond self-reliance
Self-awareness whereby you acknowledge
Your own limitations and embrace relaxation
This requires self-control and observation
For good health consider it a prescription
How you achieve it is open for discussion
As there is no right or wrong way to relax
Just drain the worry, weary mind, and inhibition
Wholeheartedly embrace the joys of relaxation
As you do you shall discover delightful procreation
Anxiety shall be replaced with creativity
As you connect with yourself inwardly
The spirit within will arise triumphantly
Therefore give yourself rest mentally.

Paul Davis is a highly sought after professional speaker, life purpose coach, worldwide minister, change master, and turnaround specialist.

Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Adultery: 101 Reasons Not to Cheat; Are You Ready for True Love; Stop Lusting & Start Living; Waves of God; Supernatural Fire; Poems that Propel the Planet; and God vs. Religion.

Paul's compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul's organization Dream-Maker Ministries is building dreams, breaking limitations & reviving nations.

Paul inspires, revives, awakens, impregnates with purpose, imparts the fire of desire, catapults people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitates destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to minister, speak at your event or for life coaching:

RevivingNations@yahoo.com
407-284-1705

www.PaulFDavis.com
http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com
http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV

Northern Buddhism

Common Barriers to Personal Growth and Development

Do you find yourself striving to move forward, but getting nowhere? You likely have barriers to personal growth and development that you may not even be aware of. Many people have barriers to personal growth and development that hold them back from achieving their personal or career goals in life. However, regardless of the nature of your barriers to personal growth and development, you can overcome the obstacles and achieve your goals with a few lifestyle and mindset adjustments.

The most common barrier to personal growth and development is your own imagination. How much a person can accomplish is only limited by the vision boardand determination of the person. If you think that you cannot accomplish something, then you will fail. If you think that you can accomplish something, and you put in the effort, you will succeed. Often, personal growth and development is often that simple.

Another common barrier to personal growth and development is past failures or events. Often our past failures or bad events in our lives get in the way of personal growth and development. It is natural for our minds to dwell on such events, but only by moving past them can we truly grow as people and in our careers. These incidents must be put aside so that we can accomplish our goals.

Another common barrier to personal growth and development is our support systems, or lack of support. Negative messages from family, friends, and co-workers will only serve to bring us down, not lift us up. Surrounding yourself with people who are like minded and striving for law of success in their careers and their life will help you to do the same. Whether you get support from an organized group, your friends, or your family makes no difference. The support that you get, the motivational pep talks and the shoulder to cry on when things go wrong, will help you to realize all of your goals and overcome your barriers to personal growth and development.

One of the less common barriers to personal growth and development is the basic lack of planning. Many people go through life taking what is handed to them, without ever setting down goals and striving to exceed expectations. Setting goals, figuring out how to reach those goals, and making a timeline for law of success is a vitally important and often ignored barrier to personal growth and development.

Remember, whatever your personal barriers to personal growth and development, you can overcome your obstacles. Any person who sets goals, creates a timeline for law of success, has adequate support, and strives for excellence can overcome these barriers to personal growth and development and achieve the law of success that all people deserve.

If you need further assistance in personal growth and development, you can find a lot of information on the internet or in books through your local library or your favorite online book store. Personal development coaches, career development profiles, and other personal growth and development tools can also help you to overcome obstacles and achieve what seemed like the impossible.

Tracy Brinkmann is an goal setting and law of success coach. Through his company Success Atlas, he provides goal-setting, motivational & educational material, & training via live presentations as well as digital/audio products.

Sign up for his free e-Zine law of successatlas.com">http://www.law of successatlas.com

Your Spiritual Well Being

How Can I Get My Partner To Change?

How much energy do you spend trying to get what you want from your partner? Think about it for a moment - how much of your thinking time is spent on what to say to your partner to get him or her to be the way you want him or her to be?

Many of us spend a lot of time thinking about how to get what we want from our partner - how to get our partner to open up, be more caring, see us, love us, pay attention to us, spend time with us, have sex with us, and so on. We spend at lot of energy trying to get what we want from our partner because we believe that if only we do it right - behave right or say the right thing - we can have control over getting our partner to change. This illusion of having control over getting another to change keeps us stuck in behavior that not only does not work to get us what we want, but drains us of the energy we could be using to learn to take loving care of ourselves.

It is very hard to accept that we cant get others to do what we want them to do, even if it would be good for them and for the relationship. In my counseling work with people, I frequently hear:

How can I get my husband to read your books?

How can I get my wife to be more sexual?

How can I get my husband away from the TV to spend time with me?

How can I get my wife to be on time?

How can I get my husband to talk with me about our problems?

How can I get my wife to spend less money and write the checks into the checkbook?

How can I get my husband to clean up after himself?

How can I get my wife to stop being angry?

How can I get my husband to stop blaming me for everything?

Everyone wants to know, How to get my partner to change? The truth is, you cant.

What you can do is take your eyes off your partner and put them on yourself. You have total control to change yourself, and no control to change your partner. The question you need to be asking yourself is, What do I need to do for my own well-being if my partner doesnt change?

Do I need to stop reacting to my partner with compliance, resistance, withdrawal, blame, lectures, explanations, nagging or anger?

These protective, controlling ways of responding to conflict will always exacerbate the conflict and make us feel badly within. The wounded part of us believes we can get love and avoid pain with these protective behaviors, but in reality it is often these behaviors that are actually causing our own pain. None of these behaviors are loving to ourselves, nor are we taking personal responsibility for our own feelings and well-being when we behave in these controlling ways.

In what ways do I need to be more loving, caring, understanding and attentive to myself - to my own feelings?

Often we project onto our partner the inner unhappiness that results from not taking loving care of ourselves. Instead of trying to get our partner to me more loving, open and attentive, we need to focus on being open, loving, kind and attentive with ourselves and with our partner.

Do I need to take specific action, such as changing the way we handle money, or the way we deal with getting places on time? How can I take care of myself in these kinds of conflicts so that I dont feel like a victim?

Anytime we blame another for our unhappiness, we are being a victim. Moving out of being a victim means taking loving action for ourselves so we are no longer frustrated with the situation.

Do I need to be willing to explore with my partner the underlying reasons for a lack of intimacy or sexuality? Am I willing to be open to learning with my partner, or am I stuck in just trying to control?

Opening to learning with your partner can be magical regarding creating intimacy and resolving conflict. While you cannot make your partner be open to learning, if you open to learning yourself, you might discover the power you have to change your relationship.

When you move out of seeing yourself as a victim of your partners behavior and into taking loving action on your own behalf, you may be surprised at the changes that occur in the relationship. Most conflict is stuck in power struggles that result from each person trying to control with some form blame, anger, resistance, withdrawal, or compliance. When you stop your end of the power struggle and start to take care of yourself, as well as open to learning with your partner, the possibility opens for great change to occur.

About The Author

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?" She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

Caroline Myss

Sphynx - The Ultimate Hairless Cat

The cat breed "Sphynx" is recognized by The International Cat Association as an official breed and can make a wonderful addition to your family. Unlike the Peterbald cat with it's hairless body and long whiskers, the Sphynx cat has absolutely no hair, making it easy to care for.

The Sphynx is a very loving and mild-mannered cat, almost perfect as a companion. It never has a problem with hairballs or spit-ups which are common with ordinary cats. The lack of hair makes them a perfect cat for those with allergies, but it also makes them vulnerable to sunburn and cold temperatures. The Sphynx rarely grooms itself so it will need regular bathing; at least once a week. If it isn't bathed, the Sphynx will become very oily and begin to show signs of skin irritation. Regular warm-water baths are essential. In the winter, Sphynx cats are very amenable to wearing pet sweaters or other novelty outfits. They seem as comfortable in clothing as people do. This makes this breed a very entertaining cat to own. Many Sphynx owners have several outfits for their cats to wear.

In the winter, you may want to keep a heating pad or electric blanket available for your Sphynx. Many like to curl up next to a radiator or other heat source as they feel the cold much more keenly than ordinary cats. In summer, be careful that your cat doesn't spend too much time lounging in the warmth of the afternoon sun. Sphynx cats do tend to burn - just like we do!

If you are interested in adopting a Sphynx cat, there are hairless varieties bred in several different colors including pink, blue, black, and the very rare purple. You simply cannot find a more loving and agreeable cat to add to your family.

Daniel Walch publishes articles on business, family issues and psychology. See his blog at http://workonlinewithnoboss.blogspot.com/

Home Improvement Planning