To my Oriental friends: Happy New Year! Together let’s welcome the challenges of the New Year!

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2008 is a Year of the Rat (Earth), which begins on February 7, 2008 and ends on January 25, 2009. First in the cycle of 12 Animal signs, Rat Year begins the sequence and recurs every twelfth year

Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find.

In Chinese, the Rat is respected and considered a courageous, enterprising person. People born in the Year of Rat are clever and bright, sociable and family-minded. They have broad interests and strong ability in adapting to the environment and able to react adequately to any changes.

Daisy Says: Celebrate Diversity!

You never know when something is going to come back to haunt you. I had a very interesting experience on Y360.

Blogging makes us instant authors of our minds expression, just like a book – you can read through someone’s blog and get a feel about that person.

Outside this dimension we call the internet, those that know me will tend to describe me as a ‘positive- happy’ person. We all have that nature in us, I believe that the grooming that I received from being raised by grandparents brought out that side of me, to this day I hear my grandma’s voice whisper in my head: ‘always look for the good in everything and everyone’.

I saw the blogging platform as an opportunity for me to share that ‘positive’ side of me with more than just my family and those that I work with. I like to start my day with meditation and when the theme pops in my mind I sit down and blog it. I am a mortgage broker, a trainer to hundreds of people in my industry and organization as well as a mentor.

I use the internet as a tool to search for loan programs, lender guidelines and to communicate with my team. Just a few days ago, I had received a y360 mail from someone in y360 land, where he introduced himself and suggested that perhaps we could do business together. (okay, get your mind out of that gutter! It was nothing like that –hehehe).

Shortly after while I’m in the middle of helping a client with a loan application, this ‘guy’ calls — I would say this was a young man in his early 20′s, I recognized his name and telephone number because he had included it in the mail… (I must say his phone call felt very much like a telemarketing call), I told him that I wouldn’t mind if we talked at some other time because I was in the middle of a transaction. Our conversation ended pretty pleasant and all that… blah -blah -blah…goodbye.

Not only do I run my mortgage business but also I am a very devoted mother. My time is very percious…and even my husband will attest that I have gone to bed with two phones in my ear… dead tired trying to help solve people issues. I am very particuliar how I invest my time since it is so precious. Anyways……….. (long blog..yuk…not like me.) Bottom line, late that evening I hopped in y360 land and checked my messages… and BOZO… left a veryyyy nasty mail.

Which I saved. (just the police woman in me, you know what they say… once a cop – Always a Cop! — my poor husband and son…they are always showing me their get out of jail card)

I called the guy back..and just said, if he was employed I had all good intentions of talking to his employer and ‘showing’ what piece of work they have representing their company. Wow! and he wanted to network!?? I felt very sad for this young man, I have never done telemarketing but I have heard that it is high pressure not to hit those numbers.

On this one, Lady Karma will handle it.

Be the Best. Watch your Words – written or verbal, they may come back to haunt you.

Daisy Says: My friends, life is too precious.

Many of us have dreams and aspirations. We make lists of things we’d like.

But have we really take time to appreciate what we already have? Have we been true custodians of what has been placed in our care? The love of a partner, son, daughter, parent or friend? The care of a home, of friendships, of responsibilities at work? The trust of our families, co-workers and acquaintances?

Before we can charge ourselves with another ‘want’ on our list, it is important to embrace what we have and become better custodian of what we have received.

Daisy Says: Live in a spirit of Gratitude.

Today was a good day.

Do you do that? Do you look back at your day and evaluate your day? I do.

We had a successful event at the office with a merging of different teams focused on achieving one goal: To make our meeting and training session a success.

I have learned that in life everybody doesn’t have to like you (it sure would make the journey sweeeeet), but you do need to respect others and give them an equal chance to prove that they do have good intentions.

As I reviewed my day, I find myself trying to figure out the puzzle – ha!!! the people puzzle. The mystery that sets one human apart from the other.

Why is it that two people can have the same opportunity, have the same business start up, (be in the same job) and they both end up with different results?

Something Tyson said came back to me tonight in my meditation. Oh? You want to know who Tyson is… the person at this moment is not important, it is the lesson learned that matters, for it is in relationships that lessons are extracted and learned, and Tyson has taught me a lesson.

I asked Tyson what is holding him back? Why is he not making go of this opportunity? What
excuses is he creating to stop him from pursuing a better lifestyle?

He said, “it takes money to make money”. Granted, there may be some grain of truth to that…. I told him that the hardest thing that some people find when they start their own business is the start up cost or as some others coin it “the initial investment money”. I reminded him that he’d already done that. I have seen people grow a team without a local office and… only through word of mouth!

I wanted to share with him the infinite possibilities of an undying spirit, one that chooses not to accept defeat.

Another thing that Tyson said that laid rest in my mind, was when he said …. “it is hard just to trust in people”.

After much thought…I told him that I wish him to succeed and… and I’m just waiting for him to grab my hand…I can’t pull him up if he never trust enough to reach out.

The lesson I learned is, you can not trust others until you fully trust yourself that you will still survive after you have tried your best.

Daisy Says: Believe in yourself, Trust in yourself …and in seeing your own humanity and errors you will begin to believe in others and trust in them too.

….when there’s ‘Bachata’?

Every culture has something that serves as signature to their people, ‘bachata’ dance is a signature dance in the hearts of the working class ‘Dominican’ — my heritage.

La Hispaniola, also known as the Dominican Republic, is a piece of heaven in the Caribbean, the people are merry, loving and peaceful. In the bachata dance there is passion and intimacy. The music is played by trios or quartets comprised of guitars (or other type of stringed insturment), percussion provided by maracas, hardwood sticks also known as ‘claves’, bongo drums and gourd scraper.

At one time the Dominican bourgeoisie frowned at this type of dancing and bachata was informally banned from Dominican radio and t.v., but …when it’s hot, it’s HOT. Now bachata has gained wide acceptance world wide.

TUTORIAL VIDEO Daisy Says: Come dance with me.