Kirjahaku

Cool Songs for Cool Kids (book 2) features 21 fun and Cool sounding early intermediate - intermediate level piano pieces composed specifically for teenage piano students - especially teenage boys. Each of these Cool Songs were composed by Jerald Simon during actual piano lessons with many of his own teenage piano students to help motivate and inspire them to learn music theory the fun way - through original Cool Songs.The songs are:1. Boot Camp Boogie2. Tick-Tock Click 'n Clock3. The Spy Kid4. Renegade Rogue5. Paparazzi Polka6. Wishful Thinking7. The Kick Box Kid8. Sweet Serenity9. Fancy That10. Smooth Sailing11. Third Time's the Charm12. Bored Game Blues13. Amazed14. Keepin' it Real15. Slip 'n Slide Summertime16. Pogo Stick Punch Out17. The Gigabyte Guru"18. Chillaxing19. Suspense Thriller20. Je Ne Sais Quoi21. Skillz

I hope you enjoy "Hymns of Exaltation." This book contains 8 instrumental piano hymn arrangements. There are 72 pages in this piano/vocal intermediate - advanced level piano book. This book includes all of the lyrics so performers can sing along with the accompaniment. You will enjoy playing and singing these hymns as you have never heard them performed like this before. Each of the hymns is presented in lesson format to help teach the theory used in arranging each of the hymns. The book is broken down into 8 individual lessons - one for each of the 8 hymns arranged in this book: (1) "For the Beauty of the Earth"(2) "Be Still My Soul"(3) "Nearer My God to Thee"(4) "I Stand All Amazed"(5) "Abide with Me"(6) "I Need Thee Every Hour/Lead Kindly Light"(7) "More Holiness Give Me", and(8) "If You Could Hie to Kolob", (also known as "I Heard the Voice of Jesus," and "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem," among other names). It is the hope of the author and publisher that each of these hymn arrangements will uplift, inspire, comfort, and empower the performers and the listeners. Hymns are magnificent, because they help us focus on that which is of most worth to us. As we listen to the melodies, we think of the inspired words of each hymn. They help us do our best each as we strive to do our part to help those around us. The order of the hymn selections in this book has a deliberate order. As we look at the beauty of this earth, our souls are stilled. We have imperfections, but we strive to be nearer to God. By doing so, we stand amazed and ask God to abide with us. We need Him and His light in our lives, because He gives us more holiness. We hear His voice and come to Him because He loves us and we are His.

Jazzed about Christmas contains 18 fun and easy to play, teacher friendly Christmas favorites. The arrangements are for the early intermediate piano student. Each arrangement is in the key of C. The songs are fun and upbeat. The book has lessons that teach students how to jazz up songs using the Christmas favorites as an example. The 18 Christmas favorites are: 1. Jingle Bells2. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas3. Up On the House Top4. Deck the Halls5. Joy to the World6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen7. Hark the Herald Angels Sing8. O Christmas Tree9. Angels We Have Heard On High10. Silent Night11. The First Noel12. Good King Wenceslas13. Bring a Torch Jeannette, Isabella14. I Saw Three Ships15. Still, Still, Still16. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies17. The Holly and the Ivy18. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Cool Songs for Cool Kids (Primer Level) features 21 fun and "Cool" sounding piano pieces composed specifically for beginning pre-teen and teenage piano students - especially teenage boys. Each of these "Cool Songs" were composed by Jerald Simon during actual piano lessons with many of his own teenage piano students to help motivate and inspire them to learn music theory the fun way - through original "Cool Songs".The songs are:1. Blue Lagoon2. H2O - Ready, Set, Go 3. The Unicorn that Got Away4. Keep On Keeping On5. Rhythmically Impaired6. Walkie-Talkie War Cry7. Ghost Town Giggles8. Big Ben Strikes Again9. The 5th Avenue Frolic10. The Sinking Submarine11. Down and Out12. Let 'em Have it 13. The Pizza Party Patrol14. Ferris Wheel15. Western Winds16. Point and Click17. Oh-Vation18. Little Piece19. Revenge of the Piranhas20. The Cocker-Spaniel Catastrophe21. Have Mercy

When you act "as if"you are foretelling your fate, your future is already known.Act as if it is possible, and the seeds of fulfillment are sown.from the poem "Act as If..." from the book: The "As If" Principle by Jerald SimonThe "As If" Principle (motivational poetry) by Jerald Simon features 222 original motivational poems written by Simon to inspire and motivate men, women, businesses, organizations, leaders, mentors, advisers, teachers, and students. The poems were written to teach values and encourage everyone everywhere to do and be their best.The poems were written over a 20 year period and contain motivational advice about never giving up. It's about doing what it takes, believing in yourself and your own abilities and believing in others. The poems focus on such topics as: Honor, courage, success, strength, will power, leadership, possibilities, confidence, goal setting, optimism, rising above mediocrity, character, never doubting ourselves, being productive, learning from adversity, doing what it takes, being happy, seeing the good in others, forgiving, seeing our own potential and the potential in others, learning life's lessons, righting wrongs, becoming a self starter, learning to control our thoughts, words, and deeds, and many more.Here is the first poem from the book: "The 'As If' Principle" Act as If...by Jerald Simon(from the book: The "As If" Principle)Copyright (c) 2012 by Jerald SimonAll Rights ReservedAct as if you are confident - even if you are not.Confidence, you will find, is a state of mind, the fulfillment of attitude evolving with time.True confidence is a trait of character, not a boastful or prideful talk.Always act with sincere humility, then with true confidence you will walk.Act as if you are affluent, even when you're the beggar in need.Wealth you will find, will often leave you behind, if it's attainment will make you unkind.True wealth is not measured with money, but with love, and knowledge and health.Act as if you're least of all men, and then you shall find true wealth.Act as if you are noble, even if your nobility's numb.Act as if you are a servant, even if your own kingdom has come.When you act "as if"you are foretelling your fate, your future is already known.Act as if it is possible, and the seeds of fulfillment are sown.Copyright (c) 2012 by Jerald SimonAll Rights Reserved-------------------Here is another poem from the book: Where Are the Men?by Jerald Simon (from the book: The "As If" Principle)Copyright (c) 2012 by Jerald SimonAll Rights ReservedWhere are the men who valiantly fought, for freedom and virtue and truth?Where are the men who are honest at heart, who are pure as the innocent youth?Where are the men who openly weep with women when they mourn?Where are the men who are strong as an ox, and gentle as a newborn?Where are the men of character, stalwart, faithful, and true?Where are the men who love their wives and never their vows would undo?Where are the men of substance, of honor, and pride, and self worth?Where are the men with courage, to stand up and challenge the earth?Where are the men with manners, with morals, and values, and heart?Where are the men unafraid to be men who are willing to do their part?Where are the men who are manly men, gentle, noble, and true?Where are the men who know what it means to be men? Are there really so few who know what real men do?Let us be men, courageous men unafraid to do our part.Let us be stalwart, faithful, and true, with morals, and values, and heart.Let us be men with standards, convictions, faith, and love.Let us be good men and great men, with assistance from above.Copyright (c) 2012 by Jerald SimonAll Rights Reserved

The Dawn of a New Age, by Jerald Simon, is a collection of new age piano solos composed by Jerald with a contemporary classical feeling. There are 12 original piano solos from the album, also titled, "The Dawn of a New Age". Each piano solo evokes the feeling of peace, comfort, and well-being. The 12 original piano solos composed by Jerald Simon are: 1. The Dawn of a New Age 2. Heaven on Earth 3. Destiny 4. Utopia 5. Tranquility 6. Hereafter 7. Reflection 8. Song of Serenity 9. Downcast 10. The Sands of Time 11. Morning Star 12. Resolution

There are 11 original new age and contemporary classical piano solos composed by Jerald Simon in this book.Each of these compositions were composed for the intermediate - advanced piano students. These are the titles of the 11 piano pieces:1. Sweet Melancholy2. Shadows3. Majestic4. Sun Shower5. Promised Land6. Blessing7. Through a Child's Eyes8. Life Everlasting9. Firmament10. Dreamland11. Enchantment

Ghosts and Goblins and Freaks and Ghouls is a collection of 10 fun and scary original Halloween piano solos composed by Jerald Simon. This piano music is intermediate level and you can watch individual video tutorials on each of these pieces by visiting Jerald's YouTube page at youtube.com/jeraldsimon (search for the Ghosts and Goblins and Freaks and Ghouls by Jerald Simon playlist).The music is also available as an album you can download from any online music store. The album, also titled, Ghosts and Goblins and Freaks and Ghouls, has additional instrumentation and sound effect that have been added with the piano music. Here is a description of the album: These scary instrumental Halloween selections are perfect to play on Halloween night as trick or treaters knock on your door. A fun and frightful repertoire of scary sounds and moaning melodies.This album is the perfect music to play at home on Halloween night for Halloween parties, haunted houses, corn mazes, and all other frightful moments of fear. The melodies were created to cause tension, unrest, nervousness, and a feeling of eeriness in the air. The upbeat rhythms add a fun flair to the unsettling music and make this album an absolute must for all things Halloween

What do you really want to do with your time? What is your mission in life? Where have you been, and where would you like to go? What are your dreams, your hopes, your wishes? If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?The main goal in writing down these perceptions, parables, and pointers, and in creating this book in general, is to present ideas that will help get people thinking, imagining, planning, creating, and actively participating in life.This book is divided into three sections: (1) Perceptions, (2) Parables, and (3) Pointers. - Who do you want to become? The person you were yesterday, the person you are today, and the person you can become tomorrow are all very different. Learn as much as you can about the person you want to become...page 25- There are many stepping stones on the road to success. One of the first steps toward success is believing in yourself...page 32- Do not dwell on defeat. Do not wallow in the well of worry or be fenced in by fear. Learn from your past mistakes and move forward...page 33 "When we fall down, we GET BACK UP " If you say the first part to my children, "When we fall down", they all automatically respond with "WE GET BACK UP " This encompasses not only physical falls, but mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, and all different kinds of "falls". This ideology began when I was eight years old and had fallen off of a 50 foot cliff. I cracked my head open and the doctors lodged a total of 26 staples in my scalp. I endured seizures for the next year, as well as frequent doctor visits, CAT scans, and MRIs. As a result of the fall, I have no memory of my life before the accident. It is a miracle I am alive and was not paralyzed. After my fall from the cliff, I resolved that each day would be a new birth for me regardless of how many times I would fall down, both literally and metaphorically. It helped me see that life is precious. It is a gift and should be cherished. It helped me to evaluate my priorities and focus more intently on what matters most. Now, we don't need to fall off a 50 foot cliff to get sense knocked into us, but we all need to continually have reminders and even wake up calls that help us refocus our energy into the best life has to offer us.We all fall down, metaphorically, and make mistakes. We may do poorly on a school or work assignment. As a result, we may feel we don't measure up. We may feel like failures as parents, and worry that others criticize us. We might feel depressed and even apathetic toward life. At times we may feel unsure, insecure, afraid, and doubt our own abilities, potential, and future. What must happen when we fall down emotionally, spiritually, financially, and even socially? We must GET BACK UP Throughout this book, I have written my own perceptions on life. These are motivational tips and ideas to help each of us improve and strive to be better today than we were yesterday.This book, for me, is a manual of what I would share with my younger self. It is what I would encourage myself to think and strive to become. It is something to turn to for those times when we have been beaten by the bullies of life. Life is full of intricate and unforeseeable twists and turns. The ups and downs can take their toll. The focus, however, must be on our potential and possibility If we can believe in ourselves and hope for the best within us and within others as well, then we can commit to do and be our best. We can strive to be better because we choose to look for the best in life. Yes, there are discouraging days and moments of madness when everything that could go wrong will go wrong. That is life. We don't need to enjoy it, but when those dark days get us down, we can always GET BACK UP It may be difficult, but it is worth it. It may take time, but is imperative to realize that we can improve and change. We cannot give up on ourselves

Jerald Simon composed all 17 of these cool songs as part of his COOL SONGS subscription program on his website.Each of these piano solos feature original techno-pop and rock/symphonic/score-like sounding pieces composed by Jerald to help motivate teen piano students to keep playing the piano with fun sounding pieces.These are the titles of each piano piece from the book. Every single piece comes with three MP3s (all included in your purchase/download of the PDF book or Spiral Bound book from this website).1. Super Sonic Boom2. New Wave3. New Heights4. Hybrid Hero5. Synthesis6. Sonic7. Starlight Serenade8. Sonic Fusion9. Power Play10. Eclectic11. Hard Core12. Platinum13. Road Trip14. Flashback Friday15. Takin' it Easy16. Devotion17. Staycation

In this book Jerald Simon has included short motivational messages with images to inspire individuals of all ages to do and be their best.Motivation matters We all need to hear words of encouragement to remind us of what matters most in life. We can, if we let ourselves, become distracted with work, schedules, meetings, deadlines, hobbies, social media and hundreds of other seemingly good and important activities. We have advanced and improved so much in so many areas of life that we have been pushed to become busier instead of truly simplifying our lives. Our calendars are booked with endless appointments and we often go from one event to the next with little or no down time in between. Our day to day schedules have often become more of a distraction to us and often cause us more stress, worry, guilt, and anxiety than they should. It is time to simplify our lives, scale back if we need to, and refocus and recommit to our purpose and mission in life. We must dare to live our dreams and do what we have always wanted to but never knew how.Motivation In a Minute is a collection of Motivational Messages written by Jerald Simon to help others find their purpose and mission in life. These vignettes are meant to be short inspirational thoughts and ideas designed to help others think about where they are in life and where they would like to go, what they would like to do, accomplish, and become. The book is presented with a motivational picture on each even numbered page of the book, and an accompanying quote that is followed up with questions, tips, ideas, suggestions, and thoughts to think about on each odd numbered page of the book.

Level: Intermediate - AdvancedPage Count: 32Jingle those Bells contains 7 fun piano solo arrangements of "Jingle Bells" for intermediate to advanced piano students. The book has lessons that teach students how to jazz up songs using the Christmas favorite as an example. This is a single use license. The 7 Christmas arrangements of Jingle Bells are: 1. The Jingle Bell Ballad2. New Age Jingle Bells3. Broken Russian Jingle Bells4. Boogie Woogie Jingle Bells5. Barrel House Blues Jingle Bells6. 80s POP Jingle Bells7. 50s ROCK Jingle Bells

Sand Castles features 10 soothing new age and contemporary piano pieces composed by Jerald Simon for the intermediate to late intermediate piano student. Here are the 10 piano pieces: 1. Arise 2. Sand Castles 3. Summer Nights 4. Ethereal 5. Summer Sunrise 6. Flip-side 7. Daylight 8. Forsaken 9. Twirling 10. Easy Does It All 10 of these cool songs were composed by Jerald Simon as part of his "Cool Songs Individual Piano Student and the Individual and Platinum Piano Teacher packages available on his website (musicmotivation.com)." This is Jerald's description of the Cool Songs he's composed to motivate piano students: "Jerald Simon composes Cool Songs to teach students the theory of the new piece with fun examples/exercises that demonstrate the practical application of learning music theory, so students can begin making music of their own. Each new Cool Song is emailed to all Music Motivation(R) mentees according to their preferred subscription." If you would like to learn more about Jerald's weekly Cool Songs from his annual subscription, you can visit his website at musicmotivation.com/coolsongs for more information.

WHO ARE YOU? Get to know yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, goals, dreams, hopes, fears, and potential This book was written to help teens and young adults get to know themselves, learn who they are and who they would like to be. This is a manual, a road map, an exploratory adventure designed to help youth and young adults map out their future. It was written to help guide them on their journey of self discovery, self worth, and self accomplishment. Discover who you were born to be This is a book to open you up to yourself, to get to know yourself better and more intimately than you ever have before. This book is all about you. It's your story. You are the author. You are the creator of your own adventure through life. This is about discovering you - who you were, who you are, and who you can and will become. Throughout the next year, this book, if you follow through with the outlined objectives, tasks, and activities, will become your personal progress report of what you will accomplish and become starting today. At the end of the year, you can then look back through this book and see where your journey has taken you. This book will be your heirloom and something you can pass on to your posterity. Each year you can start this process over with a new book filled with the blank pages of possibility that will lead you to better understand yourself. This is your book, your life, and your destiny.

100 Left Hand Patterns Every Piano Player Should Know (Play the Same Song 100 Different Ways) by Music Mentor Jerald Simon, is one of the books from the Music Motivation(R) Series. This book was created to help piano students of all ages and skill levels learn how to improvise and arrange music of their own. The 100 left hand patterns introduced in this book can help piano students, piano teachers, and music professionals take their piano playing to the next level by learning how to play the same song 100 different ways. Use these 100 left hand patterns in this book to arrange the 100 songs from the FUN Fake Book or use the left hand patterns to arrange any music you'd like to play. You can even use the 100 left hand patterns introduced in this book to compose music of your own. It's all about creating, arranging, improvising, and composing music you want to play. The left hand patterns taught in this book have been divided up into four different groups: 1. Basic Left Hand Patterns, 2. Jazz, Blues, and Boogie-Woogie Left Hand Patterns, 3. Rock and Pop Left Hand Patterns, and 4. New Age and Contemporary Left Hand Patterns. I only included 100 left hand patterns, but there are so many more patterns you can create. See what you can come up with and take your piano playing to the next level This book is divided into two sections: 1. 100 Left Hand Patterns, and 2. The FUN Fake Book featuring 100 songs in Fake Book Format (where the right hand melody is shown with corresponding chords notated above each measure - the piano player fakes, or improvises, their own left hand pattern using the 100 left hand patterns taught in the book). Here is a list of some of the 100 songs found in this FUN Fake Book: Section 1 (Children's Songs): 1. Mary Had a Little Lamb 2. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star 3. Pop Goes the Weasel 4. The Enemy Weensy Spider 5. This Old Man 6. Three Blind Mice 7. Row, Row, Row Your Boat 8. Skip to My Lou 9. London Bridge is Falling Down 10. She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain 11. Old Macdonald 12. Free Jacques 13. BINGO 14. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean 15. The Farmer in the Dell 16. Alouette 17. Green Sleeves (and What Child is This?) 18. Rockaby Baby 19. Lullaby 20. Reveille 21. It's Raining, It's Pouring 22. Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes 23. The Wheels on the Bus 24. If You're Happy and You Know it 25. I Love the Mountains 26. Chopsticks 27. A Tiskit, A Tasket 28. John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt 29. Camptown Races 30. The Mulbry Bush (Mulberry Bush) 31. For He's a Jolly Good Fellow 32. The Muffin Man 33. Home on the Range 34. Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? 35. The Old Gray Mare 36. Polly Wolly Doodle 37. Take Me Out to the Ball Game 38. Ten Little Children (to the tune of Ten Little Indians) 39. Buffalo Gals 40. A Bicycle Built for Two - Section 2 (American Folk/Patriotic Songs): 41. Oh Susanna 42. Good Night Ladies 43. I've Been Working on the Railroad 44. O My Darling Clementine 45. The Marine's Hymn 46. Anchor's Aweigh 47. You're A Grand Old Flag 48. The Battle Hymn of the Republic 49. America the Beautiful 50. The Star-Spangled Banner 51. My Country, 'Tis of Thee 52. When Johnny Comes Marching Home 53. When the Saints Go Marching In 54. Yankee Doodle 55. The Army Goes Rolling AlongSection 3 (Christmas Music): 56. Jingle Bells 57. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas 58. Up On the House Top 59. Deck the Halls 60. Joy to the World 61. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 62. Hark the Herald Angels Sing 63. O Christmas Tree 64. Silent Night 65. Angels We Have Heard on High 66. Still, Still, Still 67. Bring a Torch Jeannete, Isabella 68. Good King Wenceslas 69. The Holly and the Ivy 70. The First Noel 71. Go Tell It on the Mountain 72. I Saw Three Ships 73. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day 74. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy 75. Away in a Manger 76. We Wish You a Merry Christmas Section 4: Classical Music Section 5: Gospel/Spiritual Music

Essential Jazz Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know is a book everyone can use to improve their understanding of jazz basics, blues scales, the ii-V-I chord progressions, modal jazz improv, other fun jazz chord progressions, and more. Essential Jazz Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know was created as one of the resources for the members of the Essential Piano Exercises Course (essentialpianoexercises.com/). This book is dedicated to the many piano students, young and old, who have asked Jerald Simon over the years to release a book with all of the jazz piano exercises he feels are essential to help pianists learn how to improvise, arrange, and even compose in a jazz style. In this book, Jerald teaches the following: Key Signatures - page 6, Basic Music Intro/Review - page 12, Most Common Chords - page 22, Blues Pentascales - page 38, 12 Bar Blues - page 48, The Major Blues Scale - page 76, 2 - 5 - 1 (ii7 - V7 - I7) - page 88, Jazz Modes - page 98, Whole - Half - Half - page 105, Using the Chromatics Scale - page 110, Using Jazz Chords - page 116, The Boogie-Woogie - page 138, Using 7th Chords - page 170, Improv Lessons - page 198, Modal Jazz Improvisation - page 222, 9th Chords - page 237, Modulating from one Key to Another - page 244, Over 100 Measures of RH Riffs and Improv Patterns Created from the Minor Blues Scale - page 248, and Over 100 Measures of RH Riffs and Improv Patterns Created from the Major Blues Scale - page 252.Jerald also includes 33 original jazz pieces to help piano students learn jazz the fun way - by actually playing jazz music and seeing the practical application of the jazz theory they have learned. The entire book follows a pattern of: 1. Teaching the jazz music theory concept, 2. Presenting exercises that focus on implementing and applying the jazz music theory concepts, and 3. Demonstrating how the theory and and jazz exercises can be combined together to create actual jazz music by having the piano student play jazz music that was composed using the exact jazz theory concepts the student has just learned. Essential Jazz Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know is part of the Essential Piano Exercises Series. The first book in this series is titled Essential Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know. It was followed by 100 Left Hand Patterns Every Piano Player Should Know. This is the third book in the series. Other books in this series will soon be available as well (i.e. Essential New Age Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know, Essential Pop Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know, Essential Rock Piano Exercises Every Piano Player Should Know, 100 Chord Progressions Every Piano Player Should Know, 100 Improvised Licks Every Piano Player Should Know, etc.).

Piano teachers, piano students, and parents of piano students continually search for fun and exciting piano music their students can't wait to play. The search is over with Music Motivation(R) and the music composed by Jerald Simon Jerald Simon is a popular pianist, composer, author, and performer/motivational speaker, who composes fun piano music that piano students love playing and performing for family and friends. Simon is well-known for his COOL SONGS Series which features over 200 of his fun, original piano music - most of which include accompaniment MP3 minus tracks to help piano students learn to play the piano the fun way. He is also well known for his Essential Piano Exercises Series, as well as his popular Music Motivation(R) company. In "Wintertide," Simon has composed 10 new original intermediate - advanced level piano solos that range in style from contemporary, classical, and new age, to a cinematic, score-like sound. With titles such as: "Wintertide," "Clarity," "Cloud Nine," "Heaven's Vault," "Celestial Sphere," "Eden's Gate," "Arcadia," "Azure Sky," "Afterworld," and "Kingdom Come," piano students are captivated by the melodious and harmonious music. This piano music is ideal for late intermediate - advanced level piano students. Throughout the book, students play intermediate level piano music that sounds and appears more advanced than it really is. These pieces were composed to express the movement of wintertime across the piano keys. Most of the pieces range all over the piano keys in various key signatures. You can listen to the music from this book on Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon.com, and all streaming sites.

Poetry is wonderful. It's inspirational and motivational - at least it should be. Every poem from this book was penned to hopefully inspire or motivate those who may need a poetic pick-me-up to help them on their way.The various themes of the poems from this book include: hope, happiness, belief, faith, strength, optimism, positivity, nobility, might, experience, improvement, preparedness, perspective, capability, responsibility, potential, setting goals, self improvement, selflessness, forgiving, virtue, restraint, perseverance, humility, courage, leadership, mentorship, integrity, patience, truth, honesty, creativity, success, accomplishment, befriending failure, overcoming our weaknesses, dreaming, achieving, and so much more.It is my hope that these motivational poems may encourage someone who needs encouragement. I hope these poems may instill hope to those who feel hopeless, increase faith in those individuals who are faithless, strengthen the weak, and give everyone a greater outlook and perspective on life. We see what we want to see. We believe what we want to believe. As a natural outcome of these beliefs, we experience what we have told ourselves we would experience, and that can limit us if our understanding and thinking is in any way restricting or belittling. The more positive we can be in speaking to ourselves and others, the more positive our overall experience in life will be. We can make the most of any situation - good or bad. It is my hope that we will look for the good and find it This is actually my second motivational book of poems I have written and published. My first poetry book is titled, "The 'As If' Principle - Motivational Poetry," and features 222 motivational/inspirational poems I have written over the past 20 years. The majority of those poems, as well as many of these poems, were written for me personally. I often write poetry as a way to motivate myself to be better, to learn more, to express my shortcomings and weaknesses, and to write out how I plan to improve, progress, change, and see the world through new and improved eyes.Many of the poems in this new book were written with my three wonderful children in mind. I wanted to speak to them and teach them.The challenges we face today may differ entirely from the problems our parents, grandparents, and ancestors dealt with, and yet, everyone has problems that need solutions. That never changes. We all have good days and bad days. Everyone has trials, tribulations, struggles, and strife. Everyone has hopes, dreams, fears, frustrations, and everyone wants to be happy. No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, but everyone is doing the very best they can with what they have. You can visit any distant plot of earth anywhere around the globe and you will find children laughing and playing together. Around the world, you will see family and friends smiling at each other and sharing memories, beloved family stories, and remembering the good times they have shared together while counting their blessings for having lived through difficult and trying times. We all experience excitement, enthusiasm, and pure adrenaline bursts of energy when we are living the good life and making the most of our precious moments here in mortality. We also know how depressing, dreary, and dark defeat and despair can be. We all have felt alive and on top of the world and we all have had times when we felt like giving up because for a while it seemed as though the world was collapsing all around us. We all have experienced our personal ups and downs. All people, regardless of size, gender, race, skin color, or beliefs are doing the best they can, but we all need help at times.With these poems, I hope to lift those who feel as if they have fallen into a pit of despair. I hope to help those who feel hopeless and helpless - that they may, through the words of these poems, find hope, healing, harmony, and happiness.