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MARITZA’S RESPONSE:
Jeff that is an extremely important question you have just raised which is on top of everyone’s list both on the corporate end as well as the individual’s. Americans  have lost trust in the financial arena and we all understand why. This is a question we need to always ask ourselves before we make any type of investment decision. It is YOUR responsibility to do your due diligence (investigation) on the company or person. Ask a lot of questions. For example here are some good questions to ask: What are my risks involved personally? What is the process of protecting my money? Where will my funds be held? Where is my funds being invested? And check the company history as well – with references and business bureau. What bank do you use, if any, to hold my cash? If you go under, how am I protected and for how much? Is there a maximum of what you cover?  If you FEEL comfortable with the answers and you have done your background check on the company and the people running it, then after that is to base your decision on your gut feeling.  Another option along with this is to put a small amount of $ and see how they manage it.  Once you feel confident about them, then add more. (I have done that).

DON’T HAND YOUR POWER AWAY…
I just covered this topic in my Voices of Wisdom.  I guess the best I can liken it is if you were to do renovations in your home would you give your money to any person that walked off the street? You may interview two or three people to see if there is a right fit for you and your family. First, this person will be coming into your personal space and you need to trust them.  You also want to make sure that they do what they say they will do.  References from family and friends that you trust are always helpful. Just keep in mind that your family/friend’s needs may be different.

ASK QUESTIONS and make sure that you like the answers. If you feel that this person is being vague or you are getting a feeling in the pit of your stomach then I say — TRUST this feeling for it will lead you in the right direction.

When you are hiring someone to do something for you, you assume that they know a little more than you or you will not give them your business. Saying that, we are all equal and you want to make sure that this person treats you with the respect you deserve, is accessible once you give them them the business and is open to further questions or concerns. IN NO WAY IS THIS PERSON BETTER OR WORSE THAN YOU AND NEVER LET THEM MAKE YOU FEEL THAT WAY.

I have fired people, lawyers, accountants, financial people for different reasons – sometimes our views went in different directions or I felt I outgrew this person – whatever the reason is when it comes to our life – finances, health, famiy relationships, etc. YOU ARE IN CHARGE.

All my best,

Sandra & Maritza

KEEP SENDING US THESE GREAT QUESTIONS.

I am looking for an intern to work with and train in the PR/Communications field.  This person is likely attending College or University in the Toronto area focussing studies in this area.  I will train you along with professionals in the field. My area of focus is social networking.  I am looking for a commitment of approx. 5 hours/week.

If this interests you please send me an email sandra@2bempowered.com.

Many thanks,

Sandra Finkelstein

PUTTING OUR HERO ON A PEDESTAL
As I sat through the movie “Julia & Julia” I just wanted to sit back and take it all in.  The movie is based on a true story.  If you are a “foodie” you will love this movie especially all the french rich dishes they show.  As an aside, how is it that the French are able to stay so slim while eating all that rich food?  Quantities is a huge part of it and also how they approach food as an experience, I guess.

What struck me during the movie was how the younger “Julia” gave her power away to Julia Child. She put her on such a pedestal that when she receives the phone call from the journalist saying that Julia Child is aware of what she is doing – cooking over 500 recipes in 365 days – and is not impressed (for lack of better words), the younger “Julia” is devastated.

It is interesting that the younger “Julia” had become so self-absorbed that she forgot who she is – creating in her mind the desire to be perfect like Julia Child.  It is only after her husband moves out for a few days that she comes to realize and be aware of how she neglected so many things, including her husband. She posts her “awareness” and he comes back.

When they do talk she tells her husband that Julia Child saved her from her life and through this journey of cooking she found herself and passion again – it is all because of Julia. She goes on to say that Julia Child is perfect and had an amzing relationship with her husband and that she is nothing like Julia. I love how her husband responds and that is “no, you did this, you saved yourself. As far as Julia Child, she is human.”

WE ARE ALL EQUAL – LEARN FROM OTHERS HOWEVER NEVER GIVE AWAY YOUR POWER
When I walked out of the movie I felt that this movie confirms my work – empowerment.  On this journey – call it spiritual – I attend quite enlightened groups and it alawys amazes me that even with peoples’ level of awareness and understanding about our purpopse in this world – give and receive love- that people  look to others for their answer. I will hear them quote from others, their words, and I consistently remind them that we are all equal and that all of our answers lie within.

I had a teacher who used to constantly remind us to take what resonates and leave the rest.  I encourage you to read or follow your favourite person/people however please do not put them on a pedestal or think them better or ‘higher’ for this is NOT TRUE. Everything you “think” or “imagine” about your hero is just that “imagining” for they are HUMAN.  Know that your answers lie within and trust yourself and the universe or G-d or whatever it is you want to call it.  PLEASE TRUST and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

All my love,

Sandra

ROSH HASHA – THE JEWISH NEW YEAR.. When I realized that this life was one of many and I mean many lives that I have lived, I pondered and wondered why did I choose to come back as a Jewish person, in Canada, as a twin?  Ok so I think too much sometimes!  My thoughts were more based on curiousity. I do love being Jewish and Canadian however even more important is that I am a good person first and foremost for I do believe we are all connected.

Last year I attended shul with my family when the boys were with my ex-husband.  I sat there listening to the rabbi who has lived in Israel for more years than I can remember. While most people sleep during a rabbi’s sermon, I really listenened to his sermon. While I like this rabbi, he did say one thing that made my stomach really turn up side down. He said that as jews we must never forget or FORGIVE the holocaust. I do believe “remembering” allows us to make sure that we move our world in a different direction – towards peace and not war HOWEVER to not FORGIVE means putting energy into anger, perhaps hatred, and this lower vibrating energy can become like a prison cell – one that holds us in a “bad place”. The only one who suffers is YOU the individual not letting go and forgiving.

THIS YEAR I DECIDED NOT TO GO TO SHUL… I really thought about this, meditated so to speak on this, and decided that I did not want nor need to go to shul to be close to G-d. I emailed a friend, co-founder of Spirituelle Divas (www.spirituelledivas.org), and told her of my news and asked if she wanted to put a service together for the Jewish New Year. She was so excited and asked if we can open it up to more people. I said yes as long as the people are serious for I really want to take this time to let go of what has been holding me back, release, surrender and then TAKE THE TIME TO VISUALIZE AND CREATE IN MY MIND WHAT I DO WANT TO SEE HAPPEN AND FEEL IT. Even if it is just planting the seeds.

Karen and I sat down the other day and everything flowed, the words, the exercises, meditations, the intention for the service, all of it. Everyone is really excited. With no expectations I will allow this to unfold as it may.

A PAST LIFE REGRESSION DONE TODAY REVEALED THAT I WAS IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, THE HOLOCAUST, AND DIED IN THE  OVENS. I was at my friend’s house, Mary Montanari (www.marymontanari.com) and she was doing some energy work on me. She discovered that not only I was in the concentration camps, however this is how me, Mary and another close friend of ours is all connected. When I asked if it was the concentration camp I visited when I was 28 years old, called Mauthausen, in Austria while on my Contiki tour, she said “yes”.  It was interesting for when I walked through the camp I was ok however when we got to the tour of the ovens I broke down in tears. It was so overwhelming for me. I thought it was about the plight of the Jewish people and an interesting fact that my sister’s ex-father-in-law was in this camp. NO, it was that I WAS IN THIS CAMP WITH MY TWO FRIENDS (Mary and Viv) AND THAT WE WERE KILLED, PUT IN THE OVENS, and this is how I died.

I am glad that I can get to the point of forgiveness however I do want to be of service — being part of a people that shift the energy of the world away from fear and towards love- first from within and then outwardly to our world.

To those celebrating the Jewish New Year, from my family to yours, we wish you a year filled with sweetness, joy, laughter, abundance, wellness and peace.

All my love,
Sandra

HELICOPTER PARENT
I am not sure if you have heard of the term “helicopter parent” or not however this is a term that is being used more often today.  It’s a parent who “hovers” over their child/children to the point, I believe enabling and disabling them.

As parents we want to protect you, our child/children, to make sure that nothing happens to you. We want you to be safe. What we fail to recognize is that a child needs that time to explore, to falldown, to get up, to fail, and to succeed, in order to learn. Of course I will not let my 7 year old roam the streets however I am allowing him to walk home from school with his older brother, who is nearly 10 years old. It is only about  20 homes in from the school. I do sort of walk up to meet them however I want them to feel a sense of independence as well as repsonsibility.

The other key point to note is that our children have their own learning and journey and will follow their own path. We have NO CONTROL over this. If we deny you, our child/children, the right to learn then your lessons will come later in life.

I am happy that my children are going through stuff now as this learning will only make them stronger when they get to their teenage years (I know, or so I think!!).

A MOTHER ALLOWS HER SOME TO TAKE THE SUBWAY IN NEW YORK CITY BY HIMSELF AT AGE 9… SHE HAS BEEN DECLARED “AMERICA’S WORST MOM”.

TAKE A LOOK… This woman, Author, Lenore Skenazy, has a website you may want to check out: www.freerangekids.wordpress.com.

Also, you may want to suggest to your parents to read her book, Free-Range Kida: Giving our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts With Worry. As I have not read this book I am only suggesting it as a read. You may agree or disagree with what she has to say. However, it opens up different avenues to consider and see how it fits in your life and with your family.

All my best,

Sandra

WHY A SAVINGS ACCOUNT? I write this from a consumer’s point of view. The difference between my savings account and checking account is that my savings account gives me interest at the end of the month. Some savings account may receive them quarterly or every three months. While the interest rates are low for savings currently they can fluctuate.

I have different savings account: regular savings account and GIC which is a government bond with a fixed or set yearly earning amount. Again the rate is pretty low right now to keep in line with low interest rates – I guess it’s to keep inflation low.

There are other options for investing that will give or yield you a higher return – what you get back – however the risk for this is little to none. Once a rate is fixed that is what you get for the term or arrangement of the agreement. With my boys’ money I did put them in a three year GIC and the rate was ok – 3.5%.  There is also the factor how long you want to invest for. The longer you invest and “tie your money up” often the better yearly rate or more money you will earn.

The Catch… Like a mutual fund or other investments (except for most stocks) there will be a penalty for cashing out early. Usually you will only receive the interest for the full year or time that the money has been invested.  This means if you put something away for 2 years and you take the money out 1.3 years into it, you may only receive the interest earned for the year and hopefully best case scenario you earn for the full 1.3 years.  Best to ask your bank advisor or financial advisor for they can guide you in this way.

THINK OF THE LONG-TERM BENEFITS LIKE BUYING A GOOD WINE THAT BECOMES MORE VALUABLE AS IT AGES. When money is put away and it is earning interest and then you re-invest it and you earn more interest, this is accumulated wealth.  It means that over time “the pot” grows!  While it may seem slow to grow versus other investing options, it is more safe and do not underestimate the power of “compounding” — you started with one and you add one now you have two.  You have two and add one and now you have three. You have three and add three and now you have six.

TRY THIS EXERCISE — If you had the choice of a penny a day doubling for thirty-one days VS a million dollars up front what will you take?? Take your calculator out and see the difference. I will take a penny a day doubling for thirty-one days.

I likened this to a good bottle of wine. If you are a collector of wines you know the value of buying something today and having the value appreciate over time. Some wines takes years or even decades to reach their full potential – drinking and earning.  A wine today that costs $50 may be worth $1000 in a few years from now. That may be an exaggeration however you get the point.

ASK YOUR QUESTIONS AND DISCOVER WHERE IN THE CLOSET THIS WILL GO?? Will your savings be part of the closet that is saved for good things and will only be used sometimes Or perhaps you will wear it for the season and then store it for next year.  Make sure you know what the “fabric” is — is it something that will last or is it cheap and will fall apart.  Ask your bank person/advisor if the savings account or GIC or whatever you choose is something that you want to invest for a year or two or three. The market is always changing and once you lock your money in you will receive the rate agreed. The market can fluctuate however your investment does not fluctuate or change.  This means if you lock in at 3% yearly interest and the market place is earning 5% you still earn 3%.

Just go in with a list of questions. No question is stupid and if the person does not know the answer ask someone else in the bank.  You need to feel that this choice is right for you.

All our best,

Sandra & Maritza

A GOOD LESSON IN LIFE…
The past two weeks has been about discerning — I have had many workers come through my new home while I did renovations. Most were men. As I am a divorced mother of two sometimes sharing this is not always the best.

The workmen came in over a number of days if not weeks so I was able to talk with them. Most were really great and I treated them well and for this I received great service.

In one instance, I had my ducts cleaned and one of the workers asked me some personal questions. I am an open person and do not feel I need to hide my situation. That night I started to receive crank calls. I feel it was this person. I called my girl friend and told her what happened and we talked about sharing too much information. She gave me some valuable words to consider.

She told me that this is about taking back our power. That as single, divorced women with children we can choose what we want to share. Even though I am a very open person there are times where I do not need to share. Especially when there is someone coming into my home to do work, a service person, if this person asks a question which I feel is too personal, then I can just NOT respond.  While it seems so simple and it is, I felt that when someone asked me about my circumstance I do not want to lie. We talked about this as well. It is not lying when you choose not to answer. What you are saying in your silence is that THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Wow, a lesson well learned and an awareness noted.  I do like to share however I need to discern if I want to share what is being asked of me. This pertains to everything – personal and professional.

I wanted to share this story for those women out there who have been through what I have or experienced what I have. If you have some words of wisdom please share!

All my love,

Sandra

DECIDING WHO IS MY FRIEND?
Starting school can be daunting, scary and all that depending if you are going to a new school, changing from junior school to the high school or remembering that last year was not such a great year.

We just moved and my boys are attending a new school. While change can be exciting, I realize that it can be accompanied with fear and anxiety.  In order for me to reduce this for my boys I have given them some tools to empower and assist them during the beginning few days. This advice was given to me by a woman I respect and she also is a social worker.

SUGGESTED TOOLS TO MAKING FRIENDS
Imagine you arrive at school before the bell rings and you see some kids that you know. Take a look and see what they are doing. Does this interest you?  If so, walk over and just observe to see what is going on: is it a one-on-one game or is there a whole bunch of  people involved. When you feel comfortable ask if you can join the game or maybe you want to wait and throw the ball to a person playing – this often invites an invitation.

Perhaps you can bring something to school that you like and another person will find what you are doing interesting and ask to join.

Joining clubs and groups of interest is always helpful for you will share similar interests with someone.

DISCERNING…
This has come up for me a lot during the last two weeks both for myself and for my older son.  There are some boys that he knows that I asked him to really think about – does he like how they make him feel when he is with them?  This is a life long lesson that if you can learn and be aware of when you are young will serve you well over your life.

Discerning and figuring out who is your true friend, and yes things change and a friend today may no longer be in your life 10 years from now, however being able to make that distinction in the present moment is important.

This really comes down to loving and honouring yourself and learning to speak your truth and set boundaries of how you are treated.  When you are empowered and love yourself, you honour how you want to be treated.  A true friend will talk to you with respect, will bring you up and will support you through your good and bad times.  A true friend “has your back” and you can count of them.  You treat one another with mutual respect and can share ‘secrets’ with them.  If there is an issue between good friends then the issue can be raised and dealt with in a mature manner.

I have shared this with my son for I have a lot of very good friends. I feel that he is going through this right now — who is my friend? and that once he understands and is truly aware of his own power and truth that the rest will fall into place. He will decide if the boy he has been playing with is a friend or not. In turn, he will treat this person well. If this does not happen he will quickly learn the other side – people will not want to be with him.

In some ways, each of us have gone through this. The ones that learned their lessons quickly moved through this issue while others, even adults, are still facing this issue.

This is some food for thought.

Enjoy,

Sandra

MOVING HAS SURE TAUGHT ME A LOT…
I have been in my new house for just over three weeks and things are starting to fall into place. One thing that has carried me through this time, especially with all of the work that I did, is to go with the flow FOR THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

For me there has been workers bringing in their tall ladders and scratching my new hardwood floor.  I was told that some of my bedroom furniture will not be in until October — what can I do (they called and I believe most of it is in)?? My carpet guy discovered I had 2 cracks in the foundation.  I had to fix them.  Not a cost I accounted for. Then tonight as I was showing my girl friend around my home I opened the furnace room to discover water and she said that the carpet felt wet.  Well, when I had my ducts cleaned they knocked a tube and “disconnected it” which caused water to leak onto the floor and now some of my new carpet is soaking wet which likely means that I will have to replace the carpet and underpadding. I am not happy about this however I AM LEARNING TO GO WITH THE FLOW.

THIS IS LIFE
When I look around my house I like to focus on what I am grateful for.  That is not to say that I have not had my moments, I have. I am human.  However, when I sit back and really think about the impact that this will have in my life, I know that the issue will get resolved and yes sometimes it does cost me.  However in 5 months or a year from now will I be thinking of this. Instead, everytime there is a storm, like the hurricane that touched down 15 minutes from my home along with the large rainfall, I will be happy to know that the cracks in the foundation have been fixed and my concern for water dammage has been greatly reduced.

BE GRATEFUL and GO WITH THE FLOW..
Again, I leave you with this … learn to go with the flow as much as you can. It doesn’t mean that you will not experience anger or frustration. I did and quickly let it go for there was nothing that I can do.  When I went with the flow things turned out for the best.

All my best,

Sandra

http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow-20090429-talented-kids-finale

Wow, I watched this last night on the Oprah show. It is amazing to see the talent from children all over the world.

I really enjoyed watching Charice, the young Pilipino woman, who a year ago was discovered by Oprah on You Tube singing. On this show she sings her first release – NOT SOMEONE ELSES RATHER HER OWN.

Follow your heart and your dreams and never give up.

Enjoy,

Sandra