Today, I am grateful for all of the traveling that I have been able to do so far in my life. One of my goals is to travel around the world. Here are some photos from my travels.

The Sphinx/Pyramids at Giza, Egypt, July 1987

Jersalem, Israel, 1989

The Parthenon, Athens, Greece, 1991

Big Ben, London, England, November 1994

Sacre Coeur, Paris, France, March 1997

Dunn’s River Falls, Jamaica, 1998

Opera House, Sydney, Australia, April 2000

Blarney Castle, Cork, Ireland, 2003

The Colesseum, Rome, Italy, July 2004

Wishing Well at Phaistos, Crete, November 2005. Here is where I wished that I would meet my significant other. I ended up meeting him in May 2006. We married in July 2007. Not bad!

Panama Canal, Panama City, Panama, July 2007

Here are just a few of my favorite photos from my travels. I didn’t even put any of my Costa Rica photos because that would probably take several pages.

I hope you enjoyed them.

What are you grateful for today?

Today I am grateful for my personal growth.

I have come a long way (baby) since 1999 when I changed careers from a high stress corporate job to my career in massage.

What are you grateful for today?

Today I am grateful for my cat Jasmine.

She has been my furry companion for the past 14 years when my friend Kirstin brought her (and Aladdin who unfortunately died a couple of years ago) to me from Egypt. I named her Jasmine after the movie “Aladdin and Jasmine” because she was a princess and she came from a distant land. She loves me unconditionally and even more when I give her treats.

What are you grateful for today?

By using seasonal email subject lines in your email marketing campaigns at this time of year, you can help increase your email open rates. This will help you sell more Gift Certificates and services/products.

Seasonal email subject lines have proven to be very effective at both building personality into your brand and as good excuses for sales. However, using a seasonal subject line can be a little tricky. You have to be sensitive to different cultures and religions.

The seasonal email subject line references a holiday or time of year. Often your control mailing can be adapted to use a seasonal reference, thereby increasing response.

Here are some examples of seasonal subject lines:

Your New Year’s Resolutions for Being Stress-Free
Thanksgiving Sale Starts Today
Unique Gifts for the Person Who Has Everything
Huge Savings on Holiday Gift Certificates

As the holiday season approaches, I’ve seen a lot of marketers already starting to take advantage of using a seasonal subject line.

Gobble up the SAVINGS – Details Inside (Harry & David)
Better Than Black Friday – 3 Days Only (Performance Bicycle)
Sending JOY all year long – NOW with FREE Standard Delivery! (Cushman’s)
15% off Everything… Our Thanks to You (Vosges Haut-Chocolate)

In case you are wondering, all of these subject lines made me open the email just to see what they were offering.

Did I act on any of these offers?

Yes, one of them. Because we are here in Costa Rica until December 17th, I am doing most of my shopping on line. So the offer for Vosges Haut-Chocolate really appealed to me for gifts for some of my friends.

So spruce up those email subject lines and get those emails opened. Happy selling.

If you are unsure about how to write powerful email subject lines, stay tuned! Next week, I will be discussed how to write better email subject lines.

Today I am thankful for you. Please enjoy this short video I made for you.

What are you grateful for today?

Today I am grateful for my love of photography. Not only do I like to take pictures of nature, I also like to take photos of animals. Here are a few of my favorites from my travels around the world.

Africa Mia, Liberia, Costa Rica

Our drive back from Arenal, Costa Rica

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Naples, Florida

Peacock, National Zoo, Washington DC

Red Fox with its fresh kill, Denali National Park, Alaska

Capuchin (white-faced) Monkey, Panama

Wild horse on Assateague Island, Maryland

What are you grateful for today?

Today I am grateful for all of the beauty in this world. Here are some of my favorite things in nature…

What are you thankful for today?

Today I am grateful for compassion. I am working on having more of it.

What are you grateful for today?

Welcome to Motivation Mondays! Here is your quote for the week.

“The great successful men of the world have used their imagination…they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building – steadily building.” ~Robert Collier

What other techniques do you use to realize your dreams? Share them in the comments.

Today I am grateful… for generous friends, for daily redirected thoughts and for all those taken for granted things.

What are you grateful for today?