Do you like to touch peoples lives?
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Do you like to touch people's lives? We have the best way possible to do that. Most of the new generation networkers are trying to avoid people all together and create money and never deal with people. If you are like us and think that is not the way to go then you need to see what we are doing. We are touching people Financially, Emotionally, Mentally and Spiritually! We know we are doing the right thing for God, and for us! The only way to touch people like that is to deal with people through one on one and group meetings. The new generation people say that doesn't work and they also say is bad! We feel that dealing with people not only is a good thing but the right thing to do for God! Those of you that also believe this check out our site at:

www.mymonavie.com/internetcouple 

Chris & Sandy Benton

P.S. We are just tired of people trying to leave people out of network marketing when that is what network marketing is all about (People). They just use people in order for them to create money instead of having to deal with people. Dealing with people may sometimes be down right ugly but then when you see people change you know you are doing the right thing! I know we are going to get a lot of flack on this but this is our belief and if you don't agree you are aloud to have your belief!

9:05 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Universal Health Care will Create More Divide Between the Have’s and Have Not’s.
Category: News and Politics

Universal Health Care will Create More Divide Between the Have's and Have Not's.

            First and foremost, do I believe that there need to be some changes in our health care system? "Yes" Second, Do I think that Universal Health Care is the answer? "No". Third, do I have the answer to our health care system? "No" but I do know that Universal Health Care will hurt more than it will help.

            With that being said, here are some of the problems I have with Universal Health Care. The first thing that will happen is that the good doctors will leave the hospitals to start their own practices because there will be more money there. Then our hospitals will have to accept less than the best doctors including the possibility of outsourcing our doctors to other countries.

            If we give health insurance to all, then the corporations will then say, "Why do I need to pay for health insurance for my employees when they can get it free from the government?" So the middle class people who for the most part have decent health care now will then have the Universal Health Care.

            The good doctors with their own private practices will then cater to the rich so the rich class will have their own hospitals and everyone else has to accept the other ones. The waiting lines at the average people's hospitals will be enormous (Much bigger than now). The average person will have to wait for so many things even if it is an emergency which could cause death.

            Everyone's taxes will have to go up to help support this from the working class to the rich. This won't hurt the rich but it will hurt the middle class. The corporations will also have to pay more taxes so they will let some of their staff go and also raise prices so the poor and middle class get hit again!

            If we have government-run medical care, will they then say that you can't smoke, drink, eat unhealthy food or do anything that may cause harm to your body? I thought that most people want the government out of our lives not in it more? I will be honest, if my tax dollars go to this then I as a tax payer will want it to go to people who don't drink, smoke or do things that are bad for your body! I think most people whose tax dollars will go to this would agree.

            With everyone getting insurance, this will also have people not care about what they do to their bodies so that will make the cost go higher in the long run.

            You may be thinking who is writing this, he probably can afford health care. Well, you would be wrong. I am a small business person that doesn't have health insurance for my wife or I because we can't afford it right now!

Chris Benton

TheInternetCouple.com

6:31 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Married & Flirting (is it ok?)
Category: Romance and Relationships

Married & Flirting (Is it ok?)

   First and foremost, I am totally against flirting with anyone that's not your spouse. Flirting is in actuality a form of cheating, even if you never touch each other. It's called emotionally, mentally and definitely spiritually cheating. The only part you leave out is the physical part.

    I feel that in order to have a strong and healthy marriage, you must continue to grow spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically together. If you aren't growing together in all 4 of them areas in life, then you are not fulfilling God's will for marriage.

    Once one begins to flirt, the marriage breakdown has already begun. It's a slow process that most people never notice until its really too late. Think of it like this, you boil some water and put a frog in it, the frog will jump right out. But you put the frog in some warm water and turn the heat up slowly until the water begins to boil, the frog never jumps out and gets burned alive.

    That is exactly how satan works, he will move slowly into our busy lives so that we don't even realize what's going on until its really too late. If he breaks down the families then he has won. The foundation for everything starts with strong families. That is our biggest problem in society today.

    When satan has people actually saying that a little flirting with people is O.K. even though they are married, he knows he has conquered the first step and has his foot in the door from that point. The only flirting a man or woman should do if he/she is married, is with his or her spouse.

                                                                                    by Chris Benton

Pray this prayer if you are married or getting married:

Prayer - Please Lord help us to see when satan is working in our lives like this and for us to have the strength to do something about it. Give us the strength to realize that we need to spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically grow with our spouses.

7:12 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Life is Precious
Category: Life

Life is Precious

            Life is so precious and you never know when it will end. Last night my dad told me that my uncle was in the hospital and doing very bad. He hasn't been in great shape for a while so this was kind of expected. I received a call this morning from my dad with some bad news.

            Of course I was prepared for him to say my uncle died. Well, he let me know Stacy died last night. This is my step mom's son's girlfriend who was only 28 years old. The really though me for a loop because I was expecting one thing but something different happened. She had her whole life ahead of her. She wanted kids and everything. She was a really nice woman. She fell and hit her head and Layton her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital where she died from a blood clot.

            My wife on January 10^th is turning the big 30 and she really doesn't want to think about the age. I bet Layton would really love to see Stacy turn 30. It is a shame but he won't be able to see that. My wife can see it and I think this may have waken her up to be proud of each year that comes. As I tell her, do you feel old? She doesn't. That is how you need to look at every age. I am 35 years old and I remember turning 30. It wasn't what people made it out to be. I am very proud to be 35 but of course mentally I am still a kid. Your age is only how you perceive it. If you look at it as you are old then you will feel older than what you really are. If you look at it expecting more years and this is just a stepping stone to your future then you just may see life in a whole new perspective.

            The reason I am writing this is so many people including us really do take life for granted. Life is a great thing. I can never understand the people that hate our country, that hate life and are always negative. Life is way too short to be miserable and misery is really a choice. When you wake up each morning, you should always tell yourself that you are going to have a happy day no matter what. You need to live as if there is no tomorrow because there just might not be. I am not saying to live wild and stupid that is a whole different subject.

            I am talking about doing the things each day that you want to. Not doing things to your body that may help you have no tomorrow. Maybe, there are a few things you have always wanted to do but just keep postponing them. Now is the time to do it. Now is the only time to do the things that you always wanted to do. We are coming into a new year and the new year needs to be bright. Look forward to 2007. I know we are. Maybe this is the year you do skydiving? Maybe it's starting a family? Maybe it's losing weight. Maybe it's even going back to school? What ever it is, go do it and do it with gusto! As Yoda from Star Wars said, "there is no such thing as try, only do". For example, I want you to try and type the word "try" on your computer screen? Can you try it? Actually either you do or you don't, right? Well that is the way you have to look at anything you want to do in life. Just go and do it. Do it for you, whatever it is. Make 2007 your best year ever and even if you don't do everything you want, at least do some new things that you haven't done before.

Chris Benton

7:32 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

If you could change anything from your past, would you?
Current mood: happy
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

If you could change anything from your past, would you?

          If you could change anything from your past, would you? Most of you are probably thinking well of course I would, who wouldn't? I am going to show you not only why you shouldn't if you could but if you did, you might not be sitting here reading this today.

          I am going explain the events that led up to my wife Sandy and I meeting and how we met and how there was a thin line to us meeting. I have a disclaimer (I am not promoting how we met because we met from a Christian Singles Website).

          First, I would like to start off by talking about a movie we saw called. "The Butterfly Affect". It was about a guy who could take one moment in his past that changed his life and go back and change what happened in his mind so it would have a different ending. Each and every time he changed it; he didn't like the results.

          Well that movie got me thinking about some of the events that led up to Sandy and I meeting so here's our story:

          It was February 2001, I was doing nothing with my life. Life was just kin of blah. I was doing a lot of soul searching at this time and decided it was time for my life to change. I looked to the net for some inspiration. I have always been a lover of inspirational quotes so I searched for quote sites.

          As I was going through the different sites, I thought to myself I could probably make a better inspirational site than many I found. Remember this point because this was a turning point in my life but I didn't know it at this time.

          April 15, 2001, I launched the little quote site I thought about. All I really wanted was a site that had nothing but quotes and maybe 10 pages. I had no idea where this was going to lead me. As the site started getting more and more visitors, many started asking me to add this and add that, some were great ideas and I added them to the site.

          5 months later, September 2001, I found a Christian Singles site. They had where you can get a 14 day free trial. I thought to myself I can be a part of this for just the 14 days and if it doesn't work within that time then I will just stop my membership because I wasn't going to pay for it. I guess I was kind of cheap and not very patient at that time.

          My 14 days did pass by and I was no longer a member. I started wondering if there were anyway I could get a free membership. I saw that they had an affiliate program where if you had a website, you could earn money. So I came up with an idea, I would ask them if I became part of their affiliate program, would they give me a free membership. I figured all they could do is say "yes or no". They let me know that they have never done that before but might be willing depending how much traffic my site gets.  I told them what the traffic was. They let me know to go on and create an affiliate account and they would give me my free membership.

          5 months goes by, it is now February  2002, I was on their site and was looking for someone to chat with. I found Sandy at this time. To show you how much of a thin line it was, I never messaged anyone on that site unless they had a picture on their profile and guess what she didn't. Also, I found out later that the only reason Sandy was on that site at that time was because she was deleting an email. She was actually logging off as I messaged her. If I would have timed that any differently Sandy and I might not be together today.

          Well 2 days later on February 4^th, we talked on the phone for the first time. On February 18^th, we set a wedding date and then on March 4^th we met in person. Yes, we did move quickly and yes we did set a wedding date before we even met. And yes we were crazy, like I said earlier, I am not promoting how we met, this is just our story.

          By the way, we did keep the same wedding date we originally set, which was October 5^th, 2002.  The moral of this story is that if we would have changed anything in our lives, we probably wouldn't be together today especially since she was in KY and I was in GA. Plus, I wouldn't change anything from my past because it has made me the person that I am today.

Chris Benton

          I would like to end this with a poem I found.

Never Look Back

Never look back at the wrong you've done,
Because that wrong you can't undo.
Just look ahead at the goodness of God,
And he will bring joy to you.<BR>
Never look back at failures you've had,
Because they probably weren't failures at all.
Just realize you are made in the image of God-
Like a mountain you will stand tall.

Never look back at what you should have done-
On these thoughts your mind you should rid.
Just ask God to guide you day to day,
Then you can proudly say what you did.

Never look back at moments of pain,
Because the only one that will hurt is you.
Just keep your mind on the love of God,
And watch your gray skies turn blue.

Never look back at material lost,
Because nothing material ever lasts.
But the things that God will give to you,
Nothing material can surpass.

Never look back for what no longer exists,
Because you won't find it anywhere.
Just keep your eyes on the love of God-
Look around you it is always there.

-By Rev. Brown

6:12 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Take Time To Reflect
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Take Time To Reflect

            It's that time of the year when you sit down and look at what you have done, what you didn't do and what you want to do next year. As I look at this year, we have made great strides for our business. We may not be where we planned on being at this point but we are further than we were last year. When you look at this year, if you can honestly say that you are better off now than you were last year at this time then to me you are successful. As you are reading this, you may be asking why I am only talking about business. This writing is going to be about business. I may write something else on goals in other areas of life because I know that your goals can't be just about business but about all aspects of life.

            It is amazing to look back and at the beginning of this year when we were running just 1 website called LocalSavannah.com. Now at the end of this year we are running 11 websites for cities from Brunswick GA up to Myrtle Beach SC. When we launched LocalSavannah.com in August of 2005, we had no idea where this would lead. The only reason we launched was to have a secondary income to the newspaper that we were running because the newspaper was losing money at that time. I thought I could make enough each month from localSavannah.com to make up the difference to keep the newspaper going until it got more off the ground. Within 6 months of launching LocalSavannah.com we realized the potential of it and we made a tough business decision. We shut down the newspaper that I was so in love with. There is a huge point there. Sometimes you have to let go of something to move you forward.

            When we first launched LocalSavannah.com there were so many people that told us we shouldn't launch something new until the paper was more established. They were friends and business associates that I do admire and that I took their advice into consideration because I knew their intentions were good and they wanted to see us to succeed. I had to be the one to make the choice though and that choice led us to launching the site anyway.

            After we shut down the paper, then we decided to also launch the website idea in more than one city because we knew we were limited with just one site. We had a lot more people again tell us not to do too many things. And again, I took this advice into consideration because these are people that I admire and trust. I then had to make that decision on my own because this is our lively hood and if it wasn't going to work then we would go bankrupt.

            Here we are 11 websites later and doing good for ourselves & still growing. I am not saying that we didn't make any mistakes because we made a ton of them and I probably could write a book on just our mistakes. I am also not saying the people that gave us advice were wrong because they really weren't for most people. They didn't know my plans and where I was trying to go with my business. As I look at those decisions, I can honestly say we have made the right choices. Here is what I know; I knew that the longer you wait to launch a business like ours because it is internet based that the harder it is to make it work because of how fast the internet is moving and new competition is popping up all the time.

            Now let's look at next year. Now is the time to set goals and I mean lofty goals for next year. If you are setting small goals then chances are you will only achieve small things and you may not be in business 2 years from now.

            As this year finishes, we are now sitting down discussing what we want to accomplish next year. It will be more than we did this year. We are pretty much done with launching in new cities. We have Coastal Georgia and Coastal South Carolina pretty much covered and that was what I wanted to do. Now we intend to build our main company which is Coastal City Guides stronger and make a brand around it. Through Coastal City Guides which we also own the domain name CoastalCityGuides.com, we are going to use that name to help people find information on coastal areas. As you know, we have the coastal areas of Georgia & South Carolina covered so we plan on selling spots for other coastal areas around the country to advertise on Coastal City Guides so that will help our visitors to find information on any city coast to coast.

            As I wrap this up, you may be asking what all this means. All I am trying to say is no matter what you do in life, you have to have goals to make it. If you don't have any then you aren't really going to be successful. Also, you have to look back on your accomplishments and things that didn't work because if you don't know what you did right and what you did wrong, you won't be able to set the right goals for next year. Without the right goals then next year at this time when you look back, you will ask what went wrong. I am also not saying not to listen to other people because most of what we have done, we did listen to others. But when your gut tells you one thing and others are telling you something different then you have to go with your gut every time. That is one thing I have really learned about in the business world, and that is to follow my gut first. It may not be right 100% of the time but I think that 90%+ of the time it is right.

8:17 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

How do you look at failure?
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

How do you look at failure?

          When I say the word failure, what do you think? You probably think of someone who never done anything with their life? Maybe you thought of yourself, thinking from the past? Maybe you think defeat? In reality, none of them are actually true. The only way to be 100% a failure is if you give up totally on your dreams.

          When I think of failure, I think of a stepping stone to success. You may be asking how is that? No matter what you attempt in life, you will always fail before you succeed. Think back from your past, When you first tried to ride a bicycle, did you just jump up on the bike and ride away? Probably not, more than likely, you got on and fell to the ground. Then got back on and fell to the ground again. Then again, and again until you eventually got the hang of it.

When you think of Babe Ruth, you probably think of someone who had the most home runs for many years, did you realize that he also had the most strikeouts also? Probably not. There are many successful people out there who failed many times before they were a success. If fact I would be willing to bet that 95% or higher of the successful people failed many times before they made it. I read a survey that showed a lot of multi-millionaires went bankrupt several times before they became a millionaire.

When I look at my past, I definitely failed more times than I have succeeded. My wife and I are building a business now called LocalSavannah.com that is growing but before this we ran a local newspaper that failed. I also did a lot of things in my past where I failed but never gave up. 

Failure is the foundation of Success. If you can say that I have never failed, then I can also say you haven't accomplished much. The bigger the success of a person, the more they have failed. All I am trying to do here is help you realize that failure is a part of life and if you learn from your failures then in reality it isn't a failure at all.

Here is a poem that I found about failure. I have no idea who wrote it but it is a great one!

FAILURE DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE A FAILURE

Failure doesn't mean you're a failure,
it does mean you haven't succeeded yet.

Failure doesn't mean you haven't accomplished something,
it does mean you have learned something.

Failure doesn't mean you've been a fool,
it does mean you have a lot of faith.

Failure doesn't mean you've been disgraced,
it does mean you were willing to try.

Failure doesn't mean you don't have it,
it does mean you have to do something in a different way.

Failure doesn't mean you're inferior,
it does mean you're not perfect.

Failure doesn't mean you've wasted your time,
it does mean you have a reason to start fresh.

Failure doesn't mean you should give up,
it does mean you should try harder.

Failure doesn't mean you'll never make it,
it does mean it will take a little longer.

Failure doesn't mean God has abandoned you,
it does mean he has a better way.

Chris Benton

6:20 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Life Is About Change
Current mood: creative
Category: Writing and Poetry

Life Is About Change

Life is all about change
From the moment we are conceived
But as we go through this thing called life
We tend to go for comfort, rather than achieve.

There is nothing wrong
With having comfort in your life
As long as you don't let it
Keep you from growing because of strife.

The more we grow as a person
The greater our attitudes become
as our soul strengthens
The easier it is to get the job done.

I'm not saying that as we mold our attitudes
Our life becomes problem free
But our minds tend to
Think a lot more clearly.

Life is a Journey, not a Designation
Therefore as we grow through life
We need to cut back on Procrastination.
It is a failure disease
That will surely pull you down
And as you get older, and look back
You will do nothing but frown.

Everything in life involves change
No matter what you want to do
So you might as well embrace change
Or change will embrace YOU!!!  

   				By Chris Benton

9:48 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Which comes first, changing your attitude or taking action?
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Which comes first, changing your attitude or taking action?

            You hear so many people say that if you change your attitude first then you eventually will take action. You also hear many people say if you just take action then your attitude will follow. Well I agree with both. You may be asking how that is. I have been on both sides of the equation and can tell you that neither side alone works. If you try to change your attitude by reading books, listening to tapes and attending seminars and you don't take action then eventually your attitude goes right back to all those negative thoughts that got you where you are in the first place. At the same time, if you try to take action first without changing how you think then you end up doing a ton of work and turning people off in the mean time so you still get very little results.

            As I look back at my past, there have been so many times that I have had all the motivation in the world but just sat on it. I have read and read and read and nothing. I have listened to so many motivational tapes and nothing. I have attended so many seminars and still nothing. I have even done all 3 at the same time, guess what? Again, nothing! When you get to that point then you start questioning your sanity. You ask yourself you feel motivated to take action but still not. You ask yourself why? If you stay at that stage too long, you will go right back to the way you were.

            At the same time, I have been in the position where I didn't try to grow mentally but took tons actions and turned many people off. As I would run into people and we start talking, I would give my opinions bluntly to people who never asked for my opinions (big tip there if you work with people). In the business world you have to be able to work with all kinds of people whether you agree with what they believe or not. Sometimes it is smart just to keep your mouth shut. Now I am not saying to let people walk all over you, I just now pick the battles that I get into. There is a huge difference there but you really don't learn that unless you grow mentally.

            Therefore, I feel you have to work on both simultaneously! As you are growing your attitude by reading, listening and attending seminars, you also have to take action at the same time. Both together bring results. One side alone may give you temporary success but until you can combine both sides you will never have long term success where you enjoy what you are doing and getting results.

Chris Benton

10:52 AM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment