Volume 14, No. 12 December 2007 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Editor's Note: Tis the season... we thought that it would be fun to make the December edition of Reflections reflect Christmas and do it with humour. There are no articles by our regular contributing columnists and we've only put tidbits about celebrating the holidays. We're saving the articles from David Marshall (in Spain) and Rehana Webster (in New Zealand) for our January edition; they send you their best wishes for a Merry Christmas! We'll also have a new contributing columnist, Tom Dorzab (an American living in Spain) write about energy techniques. We hope you enjoy this holiday edition of the newsletter and we look forward to bringing you lots of good "stuff" in 2008! Helpful Holiday Tip by Dr. Alexander R. Lees This only takes a second to do and might help you at any number of social gatherings during the holiday season. Imagine if you will, you are at a Christmas or New Year's Eve party, having a great time interacting with friends, and someone new enters the room, or joins the conversation, and the mood drops as if someone pulled the plug in a sink filled with water. Someone once likened this to everyone having a positive sign on their foreheads, and then someone with a big negative one enters the environment. It's as if all the energy in you, your friends, and the room had been sucked up and is gone!

Here's a neat trick to offset the disturbance: Simply place the tip of your tongue above your front upper teeth. The spot you want is where the roof of the mouth begins to curve. Experiment a bit, and you'll find the location easily enough and begin to appreciate the benefit the next time you are in such a situation. What benefit, you may ask? Placing the tip of the tongue in that location (according to the ancients) prevents the negatively biased person from stealing or draining your energy. Does it work? Well, it does for me, and for those I've mentioned it to; so why not give it a try before you decide it belongs under the label new age or voodoo? Actually, it's an ancient yoga technique! Illustration by Rehana Webster This is a fun little trip through France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Switzerland at Christmas time sponsored by Rail Europe. Click below and then click on a country. Be sure to turn up the sound. http://downloads.raileurope.com/holidayCard/06_christmas_card.html Upcoming Seminars EFT Approved Level 1 Jan. 26, 2008 View flyer for details Register EFT Approved Level 2 Feb. 9 & 10, 2008 View Flyer for details Register EFT Approved Level 3 March 29 & 30, 2008 View flyer for details Register Editor's Note: The following is a true story and was an early Christmas present for one of our friends. I've purposely not included her name as you will understand after you've read her letter to us. I thought it was a delightful story and shows that if you treat people with kindness they will appreciate it, even if they are a taxman! My taxman is my new best friend! I was flagged for an audit for 2004 and 2005 income tax years because that's when I reported various business losses. The audit was scheduled to be at my house. I have never charged my dancing students any GST (the Canadian Goods & Services Tax), and therefore never remitted any GST payments. I thought I had been doing everything correctly regarding my tax remittances but being audited sounded worrisome! The gentleman showed up with his laptop. He started the interview with a scowl and all the while kept rubbing his neck. Wondering what was going on, I asked, "Are you okay? It seems like your neck is bothering you." He told me he had very bad arthritis and he was in a lot of pain. I thought, "What an opportunity!" I promptly told him about EFT. Then I asked if he wanted to give it a try. He agreed. It was one of those times that it worked like a charm and his mood improved greatly. Then I told him that neck pain was often associated with not being willing to look at things from a different point of view. We had a nice conversation going, then we got to the GST part. He stated that I had not remitted any GST payments. So I told him that we did grade exams for all our students and it was leading to a professional dancing career (educational programs leading to a professional career are exempt). He kind of wrinkled up his nose and looked a bit skeptical. I reminded him of his neck issues and the necessity of being open to considering different points of view. He laughed and said, "Let's just exempt you from GST." On his way out the door, he said I was his favourite taxpayer. Now, how's that for a compliment!?   World Famous Tequila Christmas Cake Many of you may be familiar with using the "Cooking the Turkey with Brandy" recipe which is quite unique, so we were delighted to receive this recipe for a Tequila Christmas Cake. Please read carefully to make sure you follow the recipe correctly ... Ingredients: 1 cup of water 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup of sugar 1 tsp salt 1 cup of brown sugar Lemon juice 4 large eggs Nuts 1 bottle tequila 2 cups of dried fruit Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the tequila again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another cup... just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the fruit up off floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the lequita to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Check the tequila. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink -whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat. To help get you into the spirit of the holidays, please have a look at this video: http://www.thecompassgroup.biz/merryxmas.swf The animation is by Joshua Held 2002 and the song was originally recorded by the Drifters in 1954. Turn the volume up - these reindeer can sing... especially the white one! And old Santa is a pretty cool singer too. If you've seen it before, see it again... it's a lot of fun!   We wish you a wonderful holiday season and may all your dreams come true in 2008!   Why not Forward this Newsletter to a friend?

(C) 2007 - Dr. Alexander R. Lees & Associates Inc.