Sanctuary Sunday - In Memoriam, Indira Gandhi

Perhaps this post is better left suited for a Wednesday's Women of Courage writeup. It really felt like a good thing to put up today, although October 31st is the day many parts of the world, including these United States, celebrate Holloween.

On this day in 1984, Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India was gunned down by a pair of Sikh extremists acting in retaliation for the storming of the Sikh holy shrine of the Golden Temple in Amritsar earlier that June.

She is the world's longest serving woman Prime Minister.

The night before her death she told a political rally: "I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation."

In the days following the death of the prime minister up to 1,000 people are thought to have died. The army were ordered to go into the cities and quell the violence.

Mrs Gandhi's son, Rajiv, was sworn in as her successor within hours of her death. He went on to win a landslide victory in the general election in December 1984.

On 6 January 1989, Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh were hanged for killing Mrs Gandhi. Balbir Singh was acquitted.

Rajiv Gandhi was himself assassinated by a suicide bomber on 21 May 1991.

Click here for a great article on how things have changed since the Gandhi Era.

Lifestyle Lifter's - Holiday Checklist V.1

On your mark. Get set. Go! The annual holiday season is fast approaching and if you are like most of us, there is a feeling of "Where has the year gone, and how can it be November already!"

Well, consider this your wake-up call.

After today, there are 26 days left until Thanksgiving as celebrated here in the US. There are 56 days left until Christmas.

Have I gotten your attention?

Today's post is one of a series we will be doing on "Holiday Tips for the Wise". Many of you have a very hectic schedule. Some call it the "Jet-Setter's Lifestyle".

Holiday Tip # 1: Divide and Conquer!

For those of you with more money than time, may I suggest an email to my good friend, Pamela Tobiason (pam.tobiason@familyconciergeandmore.com) of Family Concierge and More.

Pam, her expert staff and her many connections can take on all of your shopping, scheduling and personal calendar needs during this busy Holiday Season.

Holiday Tip # 2: Get your Invitations and Holiday Cards Out Early!

This year, in lieu of a Holiday party, we are hosting a "friend-raiser" in support of Jane Do No More, Inc. We have partnered with Papyrus and Spark who have graciously offered to send an invitation from their elegant line of Letter Pressed stationary to each of our invitees (see graphic above).

Set an Outlook entry today to send an email on Monday to Dani LaTorre, Papyrus Flagship Store Manager (Store02285@srgretail.com) for help on all your Custom Printing Needs.

In a world where more and more people choose e-cards for convenience, nothing says "Classy" more than receiving a hand-addressed Envelope containing a beautiful invitation or Holiday Card.

Make sure you order these early (printing times vary by style) and get them in the mail well before the US Postal Service deadline for Holiday delivery. "better late than never" is not a good thing when a card arrives on New Year's Day that says "Merry X-Mas"!

Look for more Tips in next week's installment of Lifestyle Lifter's.

Until then, have a Happy and safe Halloween (one day left)!

Thursday's Truths - Microloans Make a Difference!

My apology to my faithful viewers. I have not had an opportunity to post since last week! There are a lot of exciting things happening with the WWRG network, including last evening's event put on by our local chapter of 85 Broads which featured the Grameen Foundation and their work to provide microloans to women in disadvantaged nations so that they can lift themselves and their children out of poverty.

I was honored to be a Power Host at the event, and led a group of women ( and a few enlightened men!) through a exercise on how the process of loan making works.

The impact of these loans is impressive. Here are a few statistics courtesy the Grameen Foundation:

• 9.4 Million...
  ...of the world's poor have been helped by our MFI partners, allowing them to begin their journey out of poverty.
• More than 1 Million...
  ...microloans have been generated through our Growth Guarantee program. (Estimate based on average loan size.)
  
• $160 Million...
  ...in local currency has been leveraged to support microfinance programs in 13 countries.
• 25,000...
  ...Village Phone operators are working in 6 countries around the world.
• 300,000...
  ...daily transactions are supported through Mifos at microfinance institutions around the world.
• More Than $2.3 Million...
  ...in in-kind services have been contributed by 140 Bankers without Borders volunteers in 9 countries.

Many of you know that I am committed to getting the word out about Global Women's Issues including the fact that greater than 70% of the world's poor are women and children.

I encourage you to support organizations such as the Grameen Foundation and others like it. Also, please familiarize yourself with the UN Millennium Goals, which seek to eliminate world poverty by 2015.

TGIF - What Ifs? vs. Why Nots?

Today would be a great day to plan your weekend. Yes, I said PLAN! This is different than worrying.

The great statesman, Winston Churchill said “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning”

Many of us think that if we worry about something, it will focus our energy on making sure the event or task goes well.

Wrong.

Here are some typical beliefs and false assumptions about worry (Shearer & Gordon, 2006), and courtesy AnxietyandStress.com:

Intolerance for uncertainty: "If I think about this enough, I should feel a sense of certainty."

Intolerance for discomfort: "If I can just think this through, I won't have to feel this way."

Inflated sense of responsibility and culpability: "If bad things happen, it's my fault."

Distorted risk assessment/emotional reasoning: "If it feels likely, it is likely. If it feels dangerous, it is dangerous."

Perfectionism--mistakes are unacceptable: "Mistakes mean I wasn't in control and screwed up."

Pessimism/presumed incapability: "Bad things will happen to me and I won't be able to deal with it."

Misconstrued virtue: "Worry shows how deeply I care about my children."

Overvaluation of the thought process: "Because I have a thought, it is, therefore, an important thought, and I must give it my full attention and get it settled. I can anticipate and avoid discomfort by worrying."

"Meta-worry" or worry about worrying: "I'm making myself sick. I'm going to bring on an early heart attack. I'm out of control. I'm weak. If my faith was stronger, I wouldn't worry."

Implicit magical beliefs: "Worry prevents bad things from happening. It keeps loved ones safer."

Please use today to ask yourself "why not?", not "what if".

Why not plan that trip to an exotic destination that I have wanted to take, but I am too busy to take?
Why not ask the person next to me struggling with their own issues if I can help?
Why not ask, "what are my dreams?"

For as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Thursday's Truth - A Woman's Vote Counts Now More Than Ever!

It has been almost a century since women received the right to vote. After years of battle (the very first efforts to gain this right are thought to have been mounted in 1848), the Nineteenth Amendment to our Constitution was signed into law in August, 1920.

As depicted in the photo on the left, there were considerable numbers of men who did not think it was a woman's right to vote, or work, or do anything but what were then traditional roles. This scene may appear humorous now and in fact this tactic was used by one female writer to draw attention to the issue.

In 1915, writer Alice Duer Miller published these Five Reasons We Don't Want Men to Vote:

• Because man's place is in the army.
• Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
• Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
• Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
• Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.

This year's mid-term elections here in the US are becoming a battle ground for women's votes. A number of issues that are part of the platforms presented by both political parties are considered "women's issues", such as the economy, and healthcare.

A report out later today published by the National Women's Law Center and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights will cover the plight of an unseen and largely forgotten group of women - those who live in our nation's prisons.

The report noted the number of women in prison — more than 115,000 as of 2009 — has risen at a higher rate than that of men since the introduction of mandatory sentencing policies for many drug offenses. It said most of the women are nonviolent, first-time offenders, and about two-thirds have at least one child under 18.

This is tragic, because without a parent, many of these children will themselves be susceptible to the forces that cause violent crime - poverty, lack of education, no job.

We need women, more than ever to get out and vote this mid-term election. Seek the truth in what the candidates are saying. Carefully choose who will lead our national and state and local governments. We need policies and programs that allow women (and men) to raise their families in an environment that fosters respect for the individual and a strong work ethic.

Wednesday's Women of Courage - Today is Love Your Body Day

The Now Foundation and their Women's Health Project have declared today " Love Your Body Day".

This is the thirteenth year that this event has occurred. In 1998, then NOW Foundation President Patricia Ireland declared, "We are sounding the alarm that advertising can be hazardous to women's health." "On Love Your Body Day, women across the country will celebrate our bodies and reject unhealthy stereotypes. We will also put advertisers on notice: Stop profiting from campaigns and products that are bad for women," Ireland said.

As with women's poverty issues, a subject I wrote about recently, I see very little change. In fact, it appears the situation is getting worse.

According to Elizabeth McGee, NOW Foundation Special Projects Director, fashion models also send a dangerous message to young people. According to the California Department of Health Services, the average weight of a model is 23 percent lower than that of an average woman; 20 years ago the differential was only 8 percent. The constant bombardment of images of emaciated women on billboards and television and in magazines sells products at a terrible price to our communities. Findings show the diet industry is booming and thousands of young women suffer from eating disorders; it is estimated that 20 percent of college women battle bulimia.

Please take time today to think about your own image. Love your body, and your mind. Treat them both with respect, and have the courage to resist the temptation to do things that are not positive to your self-esteem.

But most importantly, be a role model for younger females who have never had a more opportune time to make a difference in the world.

Tuesday's Treasure - Oct 19th,1987 could happen again!

My apology, in advance, to those of you who were logging in today hoping to find a post on a Treasure that I pass along, such as beautiful Wakaya Island.

Today marks the 13th anniversary of "Black Monday" when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong, spread west through international time zones to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74 (22.61%).

The recent "flash crash" that caused a similar drop in stock prices, and the increasing number of Sovereign Nations on the brink of bankruptcy make the likelihood of another market meltdown occurring, very real.

I have a report, dated August 2005, written by a Canadian Asset Management firm that I keep handy whenever I talk to others about how our government has surreptitiously intervened into our stock market, and our entire financial system since the 1987 crash, largely through it's shadowy and privately owed Federal Reserve System.

Leave it to the Canadians (a bulwark of sensibility and straightforwardness) to tell the world the truth about what our leaders have been doing for over two decades of free market manipulation.

If any of you are interested in a copy, please contact me.

Although I no longer have a direct affiliation with a Private Wealth organization, I can certainly refer you to a trusted Financial Advisor who understands the risk of another meltdown and can help you prepare for the next shock wave that will inevitably occur.