My first prize giveaway of 2008!

How exciting!

I just love to give things away. For this reason, I've decided to give away five (5) $10 Barnes & Noble or Borders (your choice) gift cards and to top it off, one very special gift! This contest is interactive, so you'll need to visit the blog each week to play! Here's how it will work:

• I'll be posting a new mini-mystery here on the blog each week. The be titled, BB's Mini Mystery # (whatever # it is). You get the idea.


• You'll read each post and try to figure out whodunit.


• You'll e-mail your guesses to me using the link in each post.


• At the end of the week, I'll look at all of your guesses and choose a winner from the correct guesses for that week's $10 gift card!

During week five, I'll take all of the entries (not just the correct guesses) I have received and put them in a big hat...well, not really, but I'll find some way to pick one. Ok, I'll pick a winner from the entries I've collected over the five week period and that person will receive the grand prize! I'm not telling what it is, but it's better than a $10 gift card!

Sound like fun? Well, keep watching the blog because my first mini-mystery post will appear on Monday, January 7th! This contest will end on February 9th. Make sure you play every week so you'll have more chances to win the grand prize!

A great way to stay up to date on my blog posts is to subscribe to the blog feed! Subscribe today so you don't miss any of the action!

Until next time...

Happy New Year!

Thanks for visiting Benston Blogs!

A closing thought for the year...

Actually, it's probably more of an opening thought for 2008, but I wanted to share something I found. I've been reading Simple Secrets for Becoming Healthy, Wealthy & Wise by David Niven, Ph.D. It's a great little book that breaks down into daily thoughts based on scientific observations of various topics. For today's thought, December 31, the topic is, "There's No Deadline for Your Dreams." This is probably the most appropriate topic for me this year as I have struggled with making the transition into what I consider to be the latter half of my life.

In the passage from Niven's book, he says, "Live your life toward your dreams. No one will ask you what date it is when you get there." This was significant to me because I always felt like I had to be answering to someone at every turn. No matter what I accomplished, I felt like someone had to put their stamp of approval on the things I did in order for them to have been validated. Well, not anymore. I've made some very positive changes over the last few years and I'm happy to say that what I once thought might have been mistakes, turned out to be very difficult lessons. I was supposed to go through these things and had I not, I wouldn't have figured out some of the things I need to know to go forward. So, I've decided that my main resolution for this new year will be, "I will allow myself to pursue my goals wholeheartedly and without seeking anyone else's approval to do so."

As you think about the things you have wanted to do and what you still want to accomplish in your life, remember this piece of scientific information from Niven's book. He sites something interesting from one of his many sources. It goes like this, "People who feel they have reached their life dream are more likely to feel satisfied with their life, but the age at which they reached their dream is unrelated to their satisfaction." I'm pretty sure that can be applied universally, even though it's from a survey about men. The point is, don't worry so much about the timeline. Stay focused on the goal and the process and your enjoyment of getting there. It will be worth it!

Until next time...