The Wisdio team has been hard at work to bring you the tools that you need to get answers to all of your questions. We are extremely proud to announce that on Wednesday, December 28th access to Wisdio will be granted to the general public. Users will now be able to connect with Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and e-mail. We look forward to seeing our community get the answers they need.

Stay tuned... this is just one of the many exciting announcements that we'll be making in the coming days!

I have just come back from visiting a friend who is having trouble sorting out the arrangements over Christmas Dinner with her ex. I thought that maybe I should encourage her to refocus her priorities, by reminding her of something important. Right now she is creating a blueprint of how she handles this magical time for her kids - and she is in the process of making and creating memories for them that will last for their lifetimes.

So often people focus on the stress of Christmas but I like to focus on the positive things in life. You can leave creating a great time and wonderful memories to chance, or you can weave the magic tapestry of a wonderful experience of Christmas with your family through great design and planning.

Here are five ideas to conjure up that extra bit of magic in your Christmas, or holiday time:

IDEA 1: Imagine it

Just take a little time now to close your eyes, take in a couple of deep relaxing breaths and visualise in a perfect world how you'd like your Christmas to look... and sound.. and feel... make the picture really colourful, brighter and really up close to you... and perhaps you could imagine just stepping into the picture or film that you have running in your head and really imagine being in there. Imagine I have waved a magic wand and have made things just as you would really want... and do this over and over again until it feels real. You'll start to notice the difference in how much more relaxed you immediately feel and you’ll start to notice what seems to unfold as if by magic from now on!

IDEA 2: Capture the Memories

Take lots of digital photos during family get-togethers. Upload the photos to a family photo-sharing site (I recommend: www.DropShots.com; it's safe and secure, and photos are not shared publicly or indexed by search engines) and send the link to everyone.

During your get-togethers have family pictures and albums available from previous holidays. They can stimulate conversations and warm memories of Christmases past and - of important people who might no longer be around anymore.

Get the music cranked up and blaring in your house! From Christmas Carols to Slade or Lena Lewis! And ask everyone in your family what their favourite songs are and go online to i-tunes, find the songs, download them, make a copy for everyone to keep as a great memory and a personal little pressie to give to them. Everyone's favourite Christmas holiday music all captured on one CD - what a special gift and memory!

IDEA 3: Box O’ Wishes

This idea comes from Oprah Winfrey… place a small box at everyone's place setting containing an index card for each person. Ask everyone to answer one or more of these questions about each person there and put the answers into their box.

Example questions are: • What I love about you is… • Thank you for… • My Christmas wish for you is… Everyone will leave with perhaps the most meaningful gift they have ever received—a box of love and good wishes from everyone at the party. This is really a lovely moment as it also sets the tone and frame of mind for your entire time together!

IDEA 4: Box O’ Questions

Everyone thinks up and writes down 2 to 3 questions on topics they would like to know about each other or, as host, you can create a list of questions. The questions need to be general enough so they can be answered by anyone.

Put all the questions in a box and pass it around to each person to select and answer.

Example questions are:
• What is your favourite childhood memory?
• What is the most important life lesson you learned from your parents?
• Who was your childhood best friend and what made them so special?
• What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst
subjects?
• Who were your childhood heroes and why?
• What accomplishments are you the most proud of?
• What is your most important goal for the next 3 to 5 years?

IDEA 5: Time Versus Trinkets

For your close family and friends, instead of marching through the shopping centres to find the “perfect gift,” the most meaningful gift you can give is your time. Along with a card filled with thoughtful sentiments, enclose half-a-dozen experiences you are giving for them for the coming year.

Examples are:
• A picnic at a special place.
• A trip to the beach or the snowy mountains or a lovely river.
• A football game, a local fair, a film, a special lunch outing at their favourite restaurant, etc.
• An entire day when you will do anything they want you to do or accompany them anywhere—without complaint!

Explore, get creative and relax and I really wish you and your family a warm, wonderful and especially meaningful Christmas holiday!

Have a magical time!

Sue Atkins is a featured Wisdio Parenting Expert, Broadcaster, Speaker and Author of the Amazon best selling book "Raising Happy Children for Dummies" one in the famous black and yellow series and the highly acclaimed Parenting Made Easy CDs. She has just launched her 1st Parenting Made Easy app for iPhones and iPads. She is currently writing a new book for Random House called “Parenting Made Easy” which will be available in April 2012

Sue offers practical guidance for bringing up happy, confident, well behaved children from toddler to teen. She regularly appears on BBC Breakfast and The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and is the parenting expert for many BBC Radio Stations around the UK. She has a regular monthly parenting phone- in on BBC Radio Surrey & Sussex and her parenting articles are published all over the world.

We are excited to share that we have recently launched a brand new feature at Wisdio which makes getting answers even faster and easier.

All you need is access to any e-mail address and the Wisdio Owl will make sure that your question gets answered. Just send your question to Ask@Wisdio.com and we will send your question to the appropriate expert so that you get an answer fast, and for free. You can learn more by clicking here.

We are also pleased to announce that we will be releasing even more great features in the coming weeks which will revolutionize how we find answer online. Get ready for big things to come!

Stephanie Mansour, CEO of Step It Up with Steph, is a nationally known Health & Fitness Expert and has been featured on CNN, AOL, Yahoo!, WGN TV, Crain’s Business, and TV stations across the country for her holistic & unique approach to being healthy and fit anywhere, anytime. Creator of the Cubicle Crunch (a series of stretches you can do at your desk) & other quick, easy ways to become more healthy, Stephanie can be found “Taking It To the Streets” in Chicago, where she asks random, everyday people to Step It Up with her. From random office buildings doing the Cubicle Crunch, to a downtown street corner doing Crosswalk Stretches, Stephanie is revolutionizing the health & fitness industry. With her no diets, no guilt, and no scale-weighing mentality, she’s dramatically changing the way people view food and exercise. 

Stephanie has been named a top 50 inspiring trainers on Twitter by Masters in Health Care, one of Chicago’s top 30 female entrepreneurs under 30 by ME: In Focus Magazine, and regarded as Chicago’s Premier Private Trainer. She is a highly sought after in-home private trainer & coach for high powered females in Chicago, combining yoga, pilates, personal training, and body image & confidence coaching with her clients. She is also the creator of the workbook, 30 Days to Love Your Body & Your Life.

 For more information, please visit www.StepItUpwithSteph.com or call 323.636.2262

As a holistic health & fitness expert, I feel like I walk a fine line between talking what I want to talk about vs. jumping on the "bandwagon" and talking about what everyone else in my field is talking about...

While on one hand I'm sick of being beaten over the head with the same messages that we are presented with by other experts, by the media, and other places, on the other hand I feel like this is a good opportunity to address the trends and themes and communicate how you do NOT have to follow "mainstream" America:

• Stressing over your diet
• Worrying about your weight
• Feeling guilty for eating a cookie, skipping a workout, or having a holiday beverage

So, here are my top 2 pieces of advice for getting OUT of this mentality through increasing your self-esteem this holiday season:

1. Trust. Your. Self

. You are your best authority figure!

• Is Cosmo telling you that you're going to gain weight over the holidays?
• Is your best friend complaining about how she has no time to go to the gym and that's going to be her new year's resolution?
• Are you seeing the headlines on Self magazine saying something like "How to reduce calories this holiday season?"

Even if these things WEREN'T an issue for you before the holidays, they are popping up everywhere and causing us to be hyper-focused on them. Instead of using other people or media to tell you what to focus on and how to live your holiday life, start trusting yourself. Daily check-ins (How am I feeling? What do I want?) and practicing some deep breathing exercises from Wednesday's newsletter are great ways to do this.

2. Create positive affirmations for yourself.

Repeat, daily and even hourly,

"I am awesome. I love my body. I love my arms. I love eating vegetables. I love feeling good after I work out. I love XYZ"

The most important piece of building self-esteem is creating beliefs about yourself that come FROM yourself.

It doesn't matter if your boyfriend loves your body, or if a trainer tells you that you'll feel good after you work out.

The self-esteem comes from INSIDE of you, not outside of you. Start focusing more on your opinions of yourself and LESS on others' opinions of you, your workouts, and your eating.

Live your life for yourself, and you'll start to feel exponentially free!

Questions or comments? Please email Steph@StepItUpwithSteph.com, or ask Steph a question on Wisdio.

Sue Atkins is a Parenting Expert, Broadcaster, Speaker and Author of the Amazon best selling book  "Raising Happy Children for Dummies" one in the famous black and yellow series and the highly acclaimed Parenting Made Easy CDs. She has also just launched her 1^st Parenting Made Easy app for iPhones and iPads.  She is currently writing a new book for Random House called “Parenting Made Easy” which  will be available in April 2012.  Sue offers practical guidance for bringing up happy, confident, well behaved children from toddler to teen.

 She regularly appears on BBC Breakfast and The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and is the parenting expert for many BBC Radio Stations around the UK. She has a regular monthly parenting phone- in on BBC Radio Surrey & Sussex and her parenting articles are published all over the world.

To receive her free ebook bursting with practical tips and helpful advice from toddler to teen log on to www.theSueAtkins.com  and download it instantly today.

I'm writing for some talks I'll be giving in London soon to businesses called "Lunch and Learn" bite sized talks for 45 minutes on a wide range of topics as parenting is such a vast subject isn't it, and one of the many that I cover is, "GUILT - The "BIG G" and gremlin of parenting!

I've lost count of how many times I've worked with Mums in particular about their overwhelming feelings of guilt - whether they are working Mums, stay at home Mums or part-time Mums. Women seem to be programmed with it and it just holds us all back, keeps us stuck and is really anger turned in on ourselves as we find it difficult to ask for help, delegate parenting jobs or share our needs with others. It's also about wanting to be a perfect parent - who only exists in Hollywood film I'm afraid!

I remember when my mum was ill in hospital with emphysema a few years ago and no matter how many times I went all the way to the Mayday Hospital during a week – it never seemed to be enough and if I brought her prawn sandwiches she would want cheese – and if I brought cheese she would want prawn. I could never seem to please her and I felt enormously guilty about how much time I spent with her, how many times I went and how I never felt I did enough and then I battled feeling guilty about leaving the kids to do their homework without me, rushing back to prepare my lessons for the next day as I was Deputy Head and class teacher too at the time.

I felt torn and pulled into many pieces and I felt guilty no matter how hard I tried to do what was “right” for everyone. So I know first hand all about the feelings of guilt!  So what is guilt?

Guilt is often a message from within that you have violated your own high standards or others try to make you feel guilty as they may want to have a hold over you even unconsciously.

I work with many parents who suffer from what I call “The BIG G” the gremlin of GUILT and it can come from working parents feeling guilty about their work- life balance, to parents feeling guilty about losing their temper, not playing enough with their kids, to feeling guilty about not spending enough time with their partner, their elderly mother, or feeling guilty about being separated or divorced or having to leave work at 5.00 instead of 5.30 to pick up their child from After School Care.  The list is endless:

• Guilty feelings can come from within or be handed down to you from parents, teachers or people of influence when you were young or can come from lack of self esteem or from controlling partners or ex’s.
• Guilty feelings can also be tied up to feelings of remorse, regret and feelings of responsibility for others, or for situations that you find yourself in.
• Guilt is also a feeling of struggling with what you “should,” “ought” and must” do and it feels like a battle between what you “want to do” or “what you’d like to do” or “what you’d like to choose to do”.
• The feelings of guilt, regret and remorse are among some of the strongest and most powerful emotions that we most want to avoid as they are so painful. They keep us stuck, keep us trapped and keep us eddying around feeling like a victim because they are so negative.
• Guilt can make you become over responsible, striving to make life "right” for everyone and can make you feel exhausted and overwhelmed.
• It can make you resentful, frustrated and helpless and can lead to depression, drinking too much or to great anger or rage.
• It’s also sometimes about not feeling worthy or deserving enough and can lead to being a martyr.

Whatever brings up feelings of guilt for you – it keeps you stuck, disempowered and blocked and it often won’t go away by itself – it just grows, and gets stronger and can mislead or misdirect you about moving forward in your life.

Often underneath the feelings of guilt are irrational limiting beliefs that need to be shifted – things like:

• I don’t deserve to be happy.
• I am responsible for my family's (spouse's) happiness.
• There is only one "right" way to do things.
• My children should never suffer in their childhood like I did in mine.
• My kids should have more material things than I did.
• It is my fault if others in my life are not happy.
• If my kids fail in any way, it's my responsibility.
• It is wrong to be concerned about myself.
• People are constantly judging and criticising me and what they think is important to me.
• No matter what I do, I am always wrong.

Some parents suppress it, some wallow in it and stay helpless and stuck, and some use it as a huge level for positive change.

Here are my suggested steps to overcome guilt:

• Acknowledge that you have it
• Take control and don’t keep going over and over it again and again inside your head - let it go. Go for a walk, bang a pillow, scream in the garden, hit a round of golf and get it out of your body once and for all.
• Don’t allow it to turn into feelings of inadequacy.Grab a piece of paper and a pen and just reflect on the role guilt is playing in your life at the moment by choosing a current problem and answering the following questions:
• What problem is currently troubling me?
•  Who is responsible for the problem?
•  Whose problem is it, really?
•  What have I done to make this problem worse for myself?
•  How much guilt do I feel about this problem on a scale of 1- 10? (10 being the highest)
•  How much does the guilt I experience exaggerate or exacerbate my problem?
•  If I felt no more guilt what would my problem look like then?

Now just relax and breathe deeply and slowly and imagine I have just waved a magic wand and made the feelings of guilt disappear. What do you see now, hear now, and feel now?

Now just ask your unconscious what small change you need to make to feel more in control of your life this week.

•  Ask yourself does this problem have more than one solution?
• Do I just need to express my frustration and ask for support, help or a helping hand?
• Whose problem is it, really?
• Is it my problem or actually someone else’s?
• Am I taking on another's responsibility and not allowing them to experience being independent?
• Am I trying to keep another from experiencing pain, hardship or discomfort?

If you discover that the problem is really someone else's, give the problem back to the person to solve and to deal with. It’s not your responsibility.

Now imagine that "guilt" as an object that you can take out of your body and can package up in a lovely box. Give it a colour, texture and feeling and now imagine climbing to the highest mountain you can find and throwing it off a cliff for good.

Feel lighter? Good – now every morning and evening just before you brush your teeth – look in the mirror and say some positive affirmations to yourself regularly to build your confidence and empowering muscles and say things like:

• I am grounded, centred, positive and happy with myself
• I make good decisions for the highest good of everyone – including myself
• I deserve to solve this problem positively
• I deserve to be kind and forgiving of myself
• I deserve to do my best and feel good about my decisions
• I deserve to have other people be good to you, too!

If you learn to see guilt as a way to help you towards making changes in your life – then it has a positive intention. Guilt is there to allow you to learn from your mistakes, to take control of your life and to help you keep up to the standards and values that you have set for yourself in life.

So master its message and move forward driving forward in your life – not looking back in the rear view mirror.