Hi, Mary,

I hope that promotors of the Law of Attraction will regain sanity and return to valid and gainful occupations.

I hope that the 'next best thing' really is.

I hope that I am interpreting my 4am awakenings in a correct, if benign, context.

I hope that one day I will be less reliant upon others.

I hope that one day I will be able to repay the people who have shouldered my burden and got me through some very tough times both physically and financially.

I hope to see a world that I would be happy to know that my grandchildren will inhabit.

I hope to live longer than any other male member of my family has. (Nearly there on that one!)

I hope that my belief in an after life will be justified.

I hope that the many non sequiturs drawn by the hopeful will also be ratified.

I do not believe that I hope, totally, in vain but my experience tells me there is much work to do if hope and reality are ever going to meet.

The Old Coot  

Mary, given that the shysters are out there, waiting for the next 'sucker' to fall into their web of confusing sales pitches, that old adage 'Buyer Beware' continues to ring true. Going into business or getting into internet marketing is a gamble. If a person goes in with their eyes wide open and with a healthy dose of skepticism, and if they allow common sense to override irrational hopes, they won't buy into the scams out there. It's an absolute necessity for people to look at what amount of money they are willing to throw away every month and to not exceed that amount no matter what the 'newest-sure-bet-stupendous-secret-formula' is out there. If people continue to spend more than their budgets allow they are very much behaving like gambling addicts. As for people who know that what they're promoting is a scam and continue to do so, we might as well accept the fact that they are out there. Yes, it's wrong and sad to see people being robbed, but throughout history humans have tried to 'get over' on others; the best we can do for ourselves is to recognize that the problem is out there and guard against falling into the traps while notifying our friends of scams we see. If people don't allow themselves to be taken in by schemes that to a rational mind are immediately dismissed as hogwash, then they won't get ripped off and lose hope. They will continue to hope that there's a good opportunity out there that will fit them in every way. And they'll pursue their dream in rational ways that don't endanger their well-being. I get mailings now and then in one of the safelists I use from a person who has a blog called Keeping the Bastards Honest It might be worth a look to see what he's doing. To add my 2 cents to the Old Coot's post: I hope that I can make progress every day in one area of my life. I hope that I live my life so that ' what goes around comes around' is a good thing.

Hi everyone, This past week was sad as we lost two active members due to suspension. I don't know what they did, but this I can say, they lost hope in the system and decided to take matters into their own hands. I had sent both of them to this forum and warned them that they might cross over the line. So why lose hope. When we don't see a way out, frustrations build up and that is when we do what we never would have thought of doing in a normal times. As Lorraine says: What is it about the internet that makes us take leave of our senses. Too many hours at the computer, control, jealousy, greed, hostility---you name it. It can control and cloud our thinking. I also got caught up in it last week and had to suffer the consequences.

Hi Mary, Everybody makes choices; maybe they found a place more to their liking? Or maybe they'll drop back in sometime. Putting distance between ourselves and a problem sometimes helps to solve the problem.