Key 2 Loans and More

Nominated for 25 Golden Globes and 110 Emmys, including 7 for Outstanding Drama Series, ER has long been one of the best prime-time shows on television. Premiering in September 1994 on NBC, the hour-long hospital drama vividly illustrates the intensity and fast-paced stress endemic to hospital emergency rooms across America. Brought into being by Michael Crichton – famous Hollywood insider, novelist, and brains behind such films as Jurassic Park, Twister, and Timeline – ER fulfills its creator’s ultimate vision (it took over a decade of pitching the show before network executives bit) for a close-to-life glimpse of the technology and the humanity omnipresent in the ER. Since its inception, many cast members have passed through the halls of ER, many of them having gone on to become big stars in Hollywood…

ER follows the exploits of a group of emergency room staff who work in a busy Chicago hospital. The show attempts to examine every detail of the ER experience. From the exhilaration of saving a life to the tedium caused by mountains of paperwork, all the highs and lows are covered. In the show’s first year, a number of regular faces staffed the ER. Doctors Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), Douglas Ross (George Clooney), and Susan Lewis (Sherri Stringfield) were regulars in the ER along with Head Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) and Benton’s medical student understudy (and later ER doctor), John Carter (Noah Wyle)… Any given episode tends to run multiple plot lines throughout the show, interweaving scenes in short snippets intended to heighten audience emotion and create the aura of a stress-laden atmosphere. The show’s high drama, coupled with subplots of the staffers’ personal lives and the display of cutting edge medical technology, combine to make ER one of most adrenaline-inducing programs in television history…

The ER (Season 3) DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the season premiere “Dr. Carter, I Presume” in which Carter begins his internship at the ER with a difficult day filling in for Peter as the ER surgery consultant. Meanwhile, several plotlines related to the staffers’ personal lives take twists when Carol runs into Shep and his new girlfriend and Peter runs into an old friend at a barbecue… Other notable episodes from Season 3 include “No Brain, No Gain” in which Peter fights to save the life of a gang member already declared dead by Doug, and “The Long Way Around” in which Carol is held hostage during a robbery at a local store…

Below is a list of episodes included on the ER (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 49 (Dr. Carter, I Presume) Air Date: 09-26-1996
Episode 50 (Let the Games Begin) Air Date: 10-03-1996
Episode 51 (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) Air Date: 10-10-1996
Episode 52 (Last Call) Air Date: 10-17-1996
Episode 53 (Ghosts) Air Date: 10-31-1996
Episode 54 (Fear of Flying) Air Date: 11-07-1996
Episode 55 (No Brain, No Gain) Air Date: 11-14-1996
Episode 56 (Union Station) Air Date: 11-21-1996
Episode 57 (Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You No Lies) Air Date: 12-12-1996
Episode 58 (Homeless for the Holidays) Air Date: 12-19-1996
Episode 59 (Night Shift) Air Date: 01-16-1997
Episode 60 (Post Mortem) Air Date: 01-23-1997
Episode 61 (Fortune’s Fools) Air Date: 01-30-1997
Episode 62 (Whose Appy Now?) Air Date: 02-06-1997
Episode 63 (The Long Way Around) Air Date: 02-13-1997
Episode 64 (Faith) Air Date: 02-20-1997
Episode 65 (Tribes) Air Date: 04-10-1997
Episode 66 (You Bet Your Life) Air Date: 04-17-1997
Episode 67 (Calling Dr. Hathaway) Air Date: 04-24-1997
Episode 68 (Random Acts) Air Date: 05-01-1997
Episode 69 (Make a Wish) Air Date: 05-08-1997
Episode 70 (One More for the Road) Air Date: 05-15-1997

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the ER (Season 3) DVD.

Let me ask, have you heard the joke about the light being on inside the fridge? You know, where you were asked to open the door of the fridge and voila, the light was on. Now I know you know the light only comes on when you open the door. But the refrigerator is always on! It has to be to do its job.

Top sales professionals, like fridges, are always “on”. This is especially true for those who need to prospect to find new clients.

One individual I know worked many years as an electrician for a major U.S. automobile manufacturer. At the suggestion of a good friend, he decided to pursue a sales career in the financial services industry. This was a pretty major change in vocation; he went from dealing with watts and volts to handling people’s investment and insurance needs.

Was he a success? Well, in his first full year he shot up to becoming the top rep in North America for his company. To prove he was not a one hit wonder, he repeated this feat his second year, and yes, the third year too! To this day, he remains one of the top reps with his company.

So how did an electrician, now a salesman, become so successful? If you ask this modest man, he will say “It’s simple really, you do the best you can for your client, and you always have to be on.”

To meet this gentleman, you would know someone with an insatiable appetite for learning. He wanted to know everything he could about financial planning and the products he represented. He was a keen student of his sales manager and a constant observer of the successful reps around him. He was a sponge.

One day, I asked him what he meant when he said being “on.” He told me “To be successful I have to meet a lot of new people. I have to be able to tell them quickly what it is I do and how I can help them.” He went on to say, “I look at everyone as an opportunity.” “When I go to the super-market I look for the longest line and stand in it, I know I’ll have a chance to strike up a conversation with the person in front of me, and the person who comes behind me.” Talk about captive audience.

I marvelled at one story he told me about when he went shopping for a bed cover and pillows. After he completed his purchase he thought, “I’ve done business with you, you should do business with me.” He proceeded to book an appointment with the sales clerk who had sold him his pillows. He also asked if she would introduce him to her manager and the other sales clerks. He left the store that day with five appointments booked in his day timer.

Why? Because he was always “on”.

Top sales people maintain a laser like focus combined with a strong desire to succeed.

Don’t be as cold as a refrigerator, but do think about being “on” all the time.

Clayton Shold hangs his hat at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations impact sales success. Learn more at http://www.salesdialogue.com.

Cold Calling is dead. That’s right, it is dead. It is interruption marketing to the highest degree. Consumers are tuning out interruption marketing and the advertising message is not getting through.

So why do you continue to cold call? It is probably because your sales manager tells you that you should. And why does he tell you to cold call? It is probably because the sales consultant that your company spent thousands of dollars on advised that the staff should increase their cold calls to increase their sales. Of course, your company needs to see a return on this investment so they advise the sales manager to advise the sales staff to follow the recommendations and increase the amount of cold calls.

“More cold calls equals more appointments made equals more sales presentations equals more closed sales.” This is the general thinking. So sales leads lists are purchased from companies such as InfoUsa and the troops hunker down in the “boiler room” and call business executives and decision makers hoping to set appointments. The generally accepted rule is 15 cold calls should translate into 3 appointments made which should result in 1 completed sale. This rule usually ends up being 150 (or more) cold calls equals 3 appointments made equals 1 completed sale. The reason? Have you ever tried calling a business executive? Then you know that it takes about 10 tries before you actually get through on the phone. So the intial 15 calls turns into 150 calls. Executives, by nature, are busy… appointments, meetings, travel, planning… they don’t have time for unsolicited phone calls. And, if you do manage to find them with some free time, it takes a lot of skill to get through the secretary (the gatekeeper); they are trained to filter out unimportant phone calls. And guess what? Your call is NOT IMPORTANT!

Let’s go back to the sales consultant that your company hired. How did your company decide that they needed to hire a sales consultant? Did the sales consultant cold call your company to advise that your company’s sales are not as high as they could be and that, therefore, they should hire a sales consultant to provide some recommendations? No he didn’t. The scenario was something along the following lines: The CEO of your company noticed that sales are decreasing and did a search on the internet for a sales consultant to potentially hire to help the company increase sales. The CEO called the consultant, they met, the consultant made his sales presentation, and he was hired. The sales consultant, already with a contract, just regurgitated old school sales principals, basically more cold calls. Perhaps he even drafted a few cold calling scripts. This is almost foolproof. If sales increase the consultant will say it was because of his cold calling training. If sales don’t increase he’ll say it is because the company wasn’t following his recommendations… they did not make enough cold calls.

The bottom line is this “sales expert” did not need to make a cold call to earn his income. The company CEO found him on the internet. He has a website and he lets his website do the selling for him. If the “sales expert” doesn’t need to make cold calls, then neither do you. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on sales consultants and sales lead lists, sell the way that these pros sell. Instead, spend that money on internet marketing. People that need your services are searching the internet to find somebody to provide it to them. If they are not finding you then your competitors are getting the business. If you don’t have a website, you can create a professional profile on other sites, such as trade-pals.com for free. Just remember, if you disturb somebody with a sales message it is interruption marketing. If someone finds you through searches it is permission marketing. People just don’t respond to interruption marketing anymore. If they find you, they have already made the conscious decision to use your services; half of your sales work will already have been done!

Tino Buntic is a former cold caller but is presently retired from cold calling. He now gets his sales leads through other means. His website, trade-pals.com, provides sales leads without
cold calling to sales professionals across North America

As time progresses and technology brings us a lot of new advancements in transportation, horses are really not as important as they used to be, when they were the only means of transportation only one century ago. Horse Riding is really used for three things now days, as a sport for horse racing, as a hobby and in some places specially third world countries as a mean to provide for their families. For us that drive a car to and from work and live in an urban city, horse riding really seems like some foreign thing, but there will come a day when you are going to want to ride one of these friendly creatures, for fun. So here are some pointers to remember as you consider this fun endeavor. Pick a friendly one, yes there is only two types of horses friendly and unfriendly. Pick one that has been around humans for a long time, don’t try to be a hero by picking the one that no one wants to ride. Before you go out take Acceletrim for extra energy. Make sure you have the right clothes, by this I only mean, a pair of old jeans, because for some reason the sweat of the horse will always stain them, and you won’t be so happy. Do pick a nice pair of comfortable boots to be able to grasp to the saddle. And third, never pull the reins to hard, be gentle and first get to know that horse, give it some direction and have him or her get familiar with you, talk to him, they like to hear the voice of the person that is in command. Once you have spent about ten minutes gently walking around, have fun, remembering to stay safe.

With brand-new technological advancements which consists of digital Television, High Def TV, Freesat & home cinema sound, if you’re present television machine is older than 5 years old, then its a marvellous time to buy a brand new TV. Although, as technology develops almost on a daily basis, buying a new TV machine can easily be incredibly hard and mystifying.

This article seeks to help to explain all the latest developments that will guarantee to take your television pleasure to a breathtaking new level.

High-Def Television: Perhaps argued as one of the most significant innovation to TV since the beginning of colour technology, Hi Def (HD) television offers detail, clarity & colour, with images more often than not four times as crisp as several conventional telly devices. To see the advantages of Hi Def telly programmes you must possess a HD Ready telly. Sky and Freesat have already begun to give hi-def TV series therefore you can now get an assortment of your much-loved television programmes, films and sporting events with astounding life-like pictures.

Incorporated Digital Tuner: A TV with an incorporated digital tuner (more often than not known as idTV) lets you look at all free to air digital television stations, for example: E4, BBC3, Sky News and countless more without the demand for a second set top box.

Freesat: A new digital satellite TV service available through joint venture between the BBC & ITV, supplying you free Hi Definition Telly programmes at no additional price. Freesat has no annual contract, no joining fee, but instead just an up-front price for the television, satellite dish & installation. Furthermore because Freesat is transmitted via satellite, it is obtainable to nearly every house in the UK. Freesat TV is at this time only obtainable through Panasonic tellies. Find cheap TVs online at http://www.JohnLewis.com.

LCD or Plasma Televisions: Although LCD and Plasma TVs operate in entirely different ways, the advantages of both are tremendously similar. Even so, it is essential to consider that when picking between a Plasma or LCD telly it’s in actual fact basically a question of size. LCD is at its optimum performance up to and including thirty-two inches, whilst Plasma delivers optimum performance at thirty-seven inches, and bigger. So, if you need to get a small flat panel TV set, then (short for Liquid Crystal Display) gives the superior performance, while on the other hand if you want a bigger display size, Plasma is easily the greatest choice.

In evaluation its necessary to consider when acquiring the most appropriate television for you, to think about your funds, your viewing distance, the look you desire and if it is to be an LCD or Plasma TV.

One of the fastest growing industries in the United States today is the pet industry. The industry as a whole has increased 20% over the past 5 years and is projected continued growth in the upcoming years. Over the past 10 years, the pet industry has grown to a $34 billion dollar industry. This exceeds what we spend on candy and toys. The candy industry has become a $25 billion dollar industry while the toys are a $20 billion dollar industry.

Pet owners are now professional couples who are opting for pets versus children, retired couples and empty nesters. All with disposable income to spend on their furry little friend.

The fastest growing category with the most opportunity for growth is luxury for pets. After all, now we can get a massage for our pets, an aromatherapy spa treatment, doggy day care is a must in the city and you can even have them picked up by a Rolls Royce to take them for their weekly manicure pawdicure. Even luxury hotels are now offering special menus for our furry companions.

For pet retailers, it is important to understand what the expectations are of the luxury client. Who is the luxury client and what is it that they have come to expect?

The luxury client shops at Chanel, Gucci, Luis Vuitton, Prada and Neiman Marcus to name a few. She stays in 4 and 5 star hotels. She eats at the finest restaurants. She wears designer and she shops designer boutiques because of the experience. She is not price resistent. So what is the experience that she expects you ask?

1. Know her name when she enters the store. Make sure that you and your staff know and understand her lifestyle. She expects service and expects to be waited on.

2. The luxury client expects to work with knowledgable fashion oriented sales associates that understand how to sell a luxury product and are knowledgable in features, advantages and benefits. These sales associates also have an appreciation for luxury items and often purchase for themselves. Associates such as these are seen as credible sources to these clients.

3. Luxury is about an experience. The experience takes them away from their everyday world. The experience may include a glass of champagne or wine, cheese and crackers or tea and scones. A beautiful scent and soothing music as they enter into the environment helps to enhance the experience.

4. Merchandising a luxury product involves a clean presentation of the merchandise that is dust free and featured beautifully in the boutique. Lighting that highlights the product is critical to enhancing the shopping experience.

5. Follow through and communication with the client is paramount. This would include a thank you note after she purchases or stops by the store. Calling her when new product arrives. Calling her on her birthday, knowing important events in her life such as her anniversary, knowing the name of her husband and children. All are about the personal attention and care that you and your team provide.

Most importantly, understand what designer products mean in the pet world. A handbag pet carrier for example should have an average price point of $600.00+. www.designerpaws.com features carriers made of 100% Italian leather and are handmade. In pet clothing, an average price point of over $150.00, and pet beds should be at an average price point of over $400.00. Too many vendors are promoting designer products which in reality are poor in quality and construction and are priced well below a designer price point. Be cautious of what you carry in your store that is featured as designer as this can very well turn away the client that you are looking to attract. Most importantly, staff your store with people that understand how to attract, sell and grow a luxury client base.

Hedy Woodrow is the CEO of Designer Paws International. Designer Paws specializes in luxury pet carriers that are fashionable for a sophisticated client. Prior to starting Designer Paws, Hedy spent 20 years in the luxury fashion business as a Senior Vice President of Retail for a major luxury brand. Her broad retail experience included managing stores, buyers, visual teams, inventory control teams and planners and distribution teams. She has traveled extensively throughout the US and Europe attending high profile celebrity events that have given her exposure to a very high end client. Her insights come from personal experience both as a leader in the fashion industry and as a client. Her website at http://www.designerpaws.com features luxury products that are unique to the pet industry.

So your web site’s online and you’ve got high rankings in the search engines attracting lots of visitors. But the statistics tell you most of them are leaving after viewing just one page, what’s gone wrong?

One possible cause could be a slow download speed of your web site’s homepage or the web site as a whole. There is nothing worse than having to wait for a web site to load up. Studies indicate that the majority of visitors will only wait 3 – 5 seconds for a homepage to load up before clicking elsewhere.

If your homepage doesn’t load up in this time (from a standard internet connection) you are running the risk of losing lots of visitors before they’ve even read the content of the homepage.

They Won’t Hang Around!

You should always assume that most visitors will be connecting to the Internet using standard equipment – not super-charged fast connections. The main culprits of slow download times for a homepage are images. Just remember – every part of every web page you view has to travel down the phone line and onto your screen – the larger the item the longer this will take to happen.

It is for this reason that you will sometimes notice the text on a web page loads up on your screen before the images. This is because of the simple reason that images are larger in file size than text and therefore take longer to come down the phone line.

The more large images you have your homepage the slower it will be to download. Nobody is saying get rid of all images from a homepage – as with many things in life – they key to success is balance.

Try not to sacrifice your web site’s aesthetic for quicker download times but, at the same time, don’t have large images or animations on the homepage, as these will take longer to download.

Does Your Homepage Need To Go On A Diet?

As a rule of thumb it is recommended that a homepage be around 40 – 50 Kilobytes in size. Any larger and will be a slow downloading homepage, any smaller and it will be quicker than average. One of the best ways to decrease download times is to reduce the number of images being used or optimise them by reducing the number of colours they use or cropping them slightly.

Other pages on your web site are less important than the homepage when it comes to download speed as by this point users will already have made the commitment to enter the main body of the web site and will therefore be willing to wait a little longer for the information they require.

Michael Cheney is Author of The Website Marketing BibleTM. Take the Free 7-Part Course “Internet Marketing Made Easy” and get your free sampler of ‘The Bible’ here: http://www.websitemarketingbible.com/marketing/

In the battle to have the best television, it easy to get caught up in the hype. You hear about LCD flat panel TV’s and how great they are. However, have you ever taken the time to understand what the LCD flat panel TV features are? There are a number of factors that make these televisions highly sought after by TV junkies everywhere. Here, you will find LCD flat panel TV features explained.

In the past, plasma seemed to have cornered the market on the flat panel television. However, LCD’s are catching on fast with advances in the technology. For the most part, they are a better option of you want a slightly smaller screen size. However, even with less screen size, there are definitely advantages to having LCD over plasma in you flat panel TV.

Size May or May Not Matter

As a general rule, LCD Flat Panel TV Features include the size. The range on most LCD flat panes goes from around 15 inches up to about 45 inches. There are some on the market now that are bigger, but the quality is most apparent when you are under 45 inches. The fact is that they are not at a place where LCD flat panel televisions are small enough to replace your old tube television and large enough to compete head to head with flat plasma televisions.

Dual Use For Advantage

One of the great LCD flat panel TV features that put them ahead of plasma is their ability to work two ways. Most flat panel LCD screens are made to double as a computer monitor and work great with video games. With Plasma, though, there is danger of burn in when you try to use them as monitors or video game consoles.

No Fear of Burn In

When you look at LCD flat panel TV features, it should be noted that there is no danger of burn in with LCD. With plasma, a static picture can end up burning an image into your screen. As long as you watch TV’s or movies with your plasma television you are going to be okay. With an LCD, though, you can use it as a computer monitor or even for your video game systems.

No Space Taken

Finally, perhaps the best of the LCD flat panel TV features is that they can be mounted most anywhere. With the thin build and light weight, you can hang it on your wall or put it on a shelf. Unlike traditional tube televisions, your flat screen LCD will take up very little space and can blend into the room more seamlessly as opposed to becoming the focus of the room.

Understanding the LCD Flat Panel TV Features will help you to see why you may want to invest in one. As you search for the perfect entertainment system for your home, you can more aptly consider the LCD flat panel television once you are educated as to what makes them intriguing to people.

Everything you say and do says something about you. This has never been more true than in a text based environment like the Internet. You only have one chance to put across what you want to say. Use it wisely.

Getting a website right does take work and commitment. If you want it to succeed you must spend time to get it right and present the right impression to your potential customers.

During any conversation you can pick up extra clues from tone of voice, the choice of words used, the way it is said, pauses, etc. They provide emotion and meaning over and above the actual words being spoken. The same is true of text and other website content. There are extra clues of emotion and meaning and what you choose to write and how you say it can say a lot about you, your organisation and your priorities. These priorities are often clearly visible to every potential customer that visits your site and can therefore reveal a great deal about you.

It can reveal:

• your business priorities,

• how your organisation is structured and run,

• whether you focus on your customers,

• how you deal with things,

• if you are easy to deal with,

• your attitudes,

• whether you pay attention to detail

• if you are trustworthy

• and more…

So, what is your website really saying about you? Are you sending out a positive and useful ‘message’ to your potential customers or practically posting a great big sign that says something far less desirable?

How do you know? There are some key things to look for on your website or any other website. Bear in mind also that there could be a combination of one or more of these together:

• Weak text/sales copy – text that lacks direction and order. If you decide to buy our products, fine. If you dont buy our products, fine. Big sign would read: “We’re not really serious about this new web thing”

• Text heavily focused on you/your products – The message is clear. You are only interested in yourself and therefore your site is too. Big sign would read: “We are great. Customer? Who?”

• No/wrong website focus – website either not focused on the customers needs or focused on the wrong things. The potential customer doesnt receive a positive and clear message about who you are, how you do business, etc. Big sign would read: “We either dont know or dont care about what our customers want”. See also ‘Not easy to use’

• Poor layout – poorly organised webpage/website. No clear sense of order. Lack of clear prioritising and decision making, probably a reflection of the organisation. “We cant identify and meet objectives” See also ‘Not easy to use’

• Not easy to use – difficult to use website and website functions. Often these technical functions have the most sophisticated software known to man to do a particular function like buying a train ticket. Unfortunately they didnt consider how real people actually want to use the website or website functions. Big sign would read: “Oops! We were so busy enjoying doing the great software bit we love, we forgot the user”

• Too much text – we absolutely love to tell you how great we are/our product is. We’ll try and bore you into buying our products with loads of text. Big sign would read: “Just buy our product you fool, we know best”

• “Brochureware” – existing brochure has been moved online. Token website. Does little for anyone. Looks great doesnt it?… (Not really a question, more a statement). We thought we should get a website because everyone else has one. Big sign would read: “LOOK we’ve got a website too!”

• Too much animation/other – extra stuff that doesnt serve any real purpose apart from distraction. We absolutely love flashing things/gadgets/buttons/scrolls/colours/fonts… the more the better. More an experiment than a business. Big sign would read: “Our web designer is great isnt he/she? or i should have been a programmer”

• Difficult to contact anyone – the online equivalent to an electric fence. Typically employed by big corporations. Theyve gone to great lengths to make sure its very, very difficult to actually email anyone within the organisation. Big sign would read: “We are far too big and rich to speak to ‘the little people’ who actually buy and use our products. Go away!”

Did you recognise any of these from your virtual travels on the Internet? They are all present to some degree in businesses of all sizes and industries. Does your site have any of them? If so, the message you are sending out to your potential customers is unlikely to help you succeed online. More likely it will have a harmful affect and direct influence on your image and reputation, customer visits and repeat visits, sales and repeat sales, company results, customer goodwill and contact, etc.

Make your site the best it can be. Work at it. Ask for constructive feedback. Make a commitment to getting your website to say the right things about you. It will still be paying you back long after youve done it.

Good luck!

About The Author

Need to get your business online? contact me now to find out how you can do it for less mailto:peter@dynamiq.co.uk You can see more of my articles to help you get results online at www.dynamiq.co.uk/ezine.

peter@dynamiq.co.uk

Studies have shown that about 20 million Americans receive some form of depression treatment on an annual basis. Twenty Million Americans! Considering how grave an illness depression is, this is a rather worrisome number. As a result recognizing the symptoms of depression as a step for depression treatment may perhaps be the first move to make.

Like any other illness, depression, characterized by insomnia, mood swings, frustration and loss of appetite amongst other things, is a disorder that starts little but left unattended to can increase in intensity. Thus all efforts should be made to attend to the symptoms of depression and for best results; this should be in its beginning stages.

Now, the symptoms of depression may be caused or aggravated by other diseases (for example, in my case it was years and years of acne and asthma as a teen and adult), stress, use of drugs, Improper diet, Loss of a job or loved ones. The list is endless friends. However, as a famous writer once said, in regards to depression here is one helpful thing to remember: “Life’s problems are like knives, which either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle: Grasp a difficulty or problem by the blade and it cuts; grasp it by the handle and you can use it constructively”

In order to not allow depression to take over your present situation and consequently hinder you from overcoming it, below are its symptoms in no specific order.

Symptoms of Depression:

1. Irritability and mood swings.

2. Hopelessness and extreme pessimism (a negative outlook on life)

3. Loss of energy, extreme fatigue and tiredness.

4. Loss of interest in hobbies, having a good appearance and even associates and loved ones.

5. Extreme feelings of helplessness and no self worth.

6. Suicidal thoughts (in extreme cases)

7. Insomnia (lack of) or excessive sleep.

8. Inexplicable weight loss or gain thereof, triggered by eating disorders.

Though not a conclusive list as characteristics vary by patient, these symptoms of depression listed above are the most common ones. If you happen to experience any of these symptoms, the first step, in my opinion and based on research will be to look within and ask why this may be occurring. Thoroughly assess your situation to see what it is that could be triggering these symptoms of depression within you. Could it be a failure at something or the loss of something or someone of importance?

If you go over the problem carefully, you would be able to target the cause and consequently solve it. Remember, the mind is the most powerful force on the earth, He who can control it can control all things my friend.

You will notice that I have made little or no mention of drugs or members of the medical fraternity. That is simply because I believe a drug-free alternative of treating depression and its symptoms will be the safest route to go. What with all the side effects of popular depression medications, why aggravate an already disturbed health with such unwanted side effects as nausea, weight gain and even sexual dysfunctions as reported in some cases.

With a drug-free approach of Positive Thinking, a carefully selected diet (yes, it matters friend) and some form of physical exercise-my personal recommendation being Yoga-you can tackle the symptoms of depression at any stage and empower yourself to lead a healthier and happier life.

Other things you can add to these three limbs are to take time to relax more, enjoy your favorite music (remember David playing for Saul in the Bible, yes music is soothing for depression friend), seek uplifting entertainment, read more self-help books, Heck, if you’re of a Christian background go to Psalms 23 or 91…they help. Seek out the company of those you know make you laugh. Or if need be, let out a good cry (don’t abuse it and you are not weak if you do, it’s part of being human.), clear the mind and empower yourself (if need be with positive affirmations repeated mentally or aloud) and tackle your problems because YOU CAN DO IT!

May Happiness be yours.

Beat the Symptoms of Your depression starting today.

Foras Aje is an independent researcher and author of Fitness: Inside and out, a book on improving physical and mental health naturally. For additional information on depression treatment go to: http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/depression.htm