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Online dating… the whole concept sounds very exciting yet mysterious.

There are people around the world who have done the online dating thing, many of which were able to find their soulmates.

Most of us have dated at least offline, and some of us have dated online. Either way, online dating can be a good experience for each one of us - if we don’t let the bad outshine the good.

It has been said that risk is required to attain great reward. And after having heard some of the stories about the online dating experience, you just about have to concede that sometimes online dating brings with it great risk. Well, everything in this world involves some drawbacks and dangers with it and so does online dating.

Where there are good people, there may also be bad people. It is a risk we all take when we choose to socialize with others.

The greatest risk of online dating is that the person with whom you are speaking is not who he or she says that they are. Of course, that could happen in the real world of dating, but it is not as prevelent as it is online.

The people who are faking their online identity fall into one of three groups: lonely people, married people (sometimes also lonely married people), and the criminal element.

Ladies, don’t think that a reference to the criminal element only includes men who seek to harm women. More so, most of the criminal element in the online dating world are those who are looking for a mark for an identity fraud or money scam. Whether you are a man or woman, you should be forewarned that if someone starts asking for money to pay for some emergency expense, then you are probably talking to a criminal involved in some sort of money scam. You know, it might be different if you have met this individual in person, but if you have never met them and they are asking for money… BEWARE!

Faking an online identity on a dating website is not always indicative of a fraudulent mind. When lonely, some people simply create an online identity that might be more exciting and more attractive to others. This kind of fake may not hurt you physically or financially, but it may very well put a long-term relationship on the rocks as the deceptions are discovered.

By far, the most common reason for faking an online dating website identity is the ignorant spouse at home. He or she might be a wretch, but being a wretch does not make them dangerous.

The online dating websites have gotten pretty good over the years at setting up systems to identify and target the criminal elements within the dating site. Typically, the male or female criminal scammer will be identified and deleted from the dating websites’ database within 24-48 hours. So, if you find yourself talking to someone and their profile is shown to be deleted in mid-sentence, you can usually rest assured that the online dating site just saved you a world of headache and heartache.

While the dating websites are good at detecting and deleting the criminal scammers from the dating community, the dating websites are less inclined to eliminate the married members from their database. However, some of the bigger dating websites have provided mechanisms for members to prove that they are who they say they are, for the purpose of giving the website a method to tell its other members whether the individual has submitted proof of identity to them or not. The married guys and gals usually won’t go through the proof of identity process, for fear that his or her significant other will find out about the attempt to cheat.

But before you go jumping to any conclusions about an individual on an online dating website, keep in mind that many people simply will not go through the identity verification process, for a number of reasons:

1. Too much hassle;

2. It sometimes costs money; and

3. Some people are afraid to give private data to some unknown third-party that might be operating the website.

The truth is that the online dating community should be treated as a buyer-beware process. While most people who frequent the online dating websites are honest, single and looking for love, there are a few out there who are not.

If you gather a group of people in any single setting, whether it is an online dating website, a church, or a grocery store, most of the people you will find at that setting are good, honest, hard-working people. So, when you are online, you should look at the online dating experience as one where most people will be above-board, honest, and sincere. But you should also keep in the back of your mind that you do not know for sure what you are getting until which time you are able to prove to yourself that the person at the other end of the conversation is exactly who you believe that they are.

When searching for that proof of sincerity, keep in mind that lesson from our youth… Liars will never be able to keep their lies straight, and they will always begin to make mistakes and let the truth slip out.

At the end of the day, the online dating community is just one more way for people to meet a potential love interest. It is a way where you can meet people that you would not have been able to meet otherwise, and who knows, it might work out to be the best love connection you will ever make.

The biggest hurdle that most people face in online dating world is the question and concern of whether the person at the other end of the conversation is really who he or she says that they are. It is hard to get comfortable with the person you are about to meet, when you have no other connection to that person beyond an anonymous internet connection.

In the real world of dating, before you go on a first date, you probably know:

Where someone works;

Where they live;

Who some of their friends are;

Where they go to hang out;

What they drive…

Sure, you cannot tell a lot about a person from information such as this, but you can sure tell a friend these things in the event that something goes awry on your first date. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

Your friends are able to know something real and truthful about the person you are about to go on a date with, because you are able to learn that information before you go on your first date.

But, when you are doing the online dating thing, you can chat or email back and forth with a potential date, and even after several months of talking, you could potentially still not know the first thing about the person you are ready to meet. For all you know, they could be pathological liars.

With online dating, it is difficult to really know anything about the person you want to meet, UNLESS, you join a dating website that has systems in place to verify the information that a person gives online. For example, does he or she really work where they say? Do they live where they say? Is that picture on their profile really what they look like in person?

But, if like me you have been around online dating for a number of years, it is really difficult to find a website that offers systems to enable the dating website’s management team to verify any kind of information about their members.

When I took the decision to start an online dating site, I wanted to set up a system that would allow our management team to verify information about our members, so that we could offer our members a safer online dating environment. On our website, with our latest service upgrade, we finally have the ability to verify information about our members, providing our members a much more honest and safe dating community.

Although members are not required to verify their personal information, we do give our users several ways to verify their personal information. When a member verifies their personal information, we show our other members a logo which identifies what information has been verified in the user’s profile.

Online dating should lead to fun and fulfillment, and hopefully, we have been able to introduce an element to our site that will let you see our dating community as one of the safer dating websites available online.

If you knew you were going to stand before God, today (not in judgment, but meeting your very best friend) … is there a gift you would like to present Him with? Do you plan to meet Him empty handed? Maybe you have a gift for God already. Perhaps, you never thought about it and would like to.

What would be the truest statement of your love? What type of service are you passionate about? Find the answer. Then, head in that direction. And if you still do not know, walk in the direction your heart leads and God will take you there.

It does not matter if God calls you to little or a lot. (Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it. Let the weak say, \”I am strong,\” the most necessary part. He meant it!) What brings inner completeness is serving in the center of God’s perfect will (Lu. 12:50), wherein there is joy in that He empowers us to do so much more.

Consider His promise …

\”And every one that hath forsaken houses (churches), or brethren (religion), or sisters (family), or father (leader), or mother (counselor), or wife (soul mate), or children (followers), or lands (positions), for my name’s sake (when He calls you), shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.\” Matthew 19:29

Would you suffer persecution from those you love, if necessary, in order to follow God? Micah 7:6

God never promised it would be easy. Though, consider the price of such gods … \”For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.\” Matthew 16:25

Rewards for choosing God …

\”But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.\” Mark 10:30

Wouldn’t you enjoy discovering the joys, blessings, and rewards in completing your race? It isn’t too late.

David Hedison played the continuing character of Felix Lieter in two James Bond movies, \”Live and Let Die\” and \”License to Kill\”. He recently recorded a 12 minute introduction to the eight hour CD production of \”How to Live the James Bond Lifestyle\”. This production is taken from the book \”The Complete James Bond Lifestyle\” by Paul Kyriazi, which has been selling on Amazon for the last 5 years.

This CD program is read by the author with cast members and sound effects used for dramatizations. David Hedison is known for his performance in the original \”The Fly\” movie in which his experiment in electronic teleportation gives him the head and arm of a fly.

He is also well know for his television series \”Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea\”. In his Bond Lifestyle introduction Hedison tells the story of how he ran away from his first audition, only to finally get up the courage to return and get the part. He give examples of mind sets he used to survive as a freelance actor.

At the end of his story Hedison goes into his \”Felix Leiter\” character and says, \”I backed up James Bond on two missions and I wish I could be there with you now to back you up on whatever mission that will move you forward in life. But I want you to think of me along with you backing you up on any challenge that may come to you as you take action on achieving your goals. And like I told Bond in ‘Live and Let Die’, \”I just know you want to get where the real action is.\”

Hedison met \”Bond Lifestyle\” writer/producer Paul Kyriazi at the SpyFest convention on the Queen Mary in 2002 where Kyriazi opened and closed the show teaching the audience the techniques of his success program. Hedison also recently played a lead role in Kyriazi’s upcoming audio-book \”McKnight’s Memory\” narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr. And performed by Robert Culp, Nancy Kwan, Henry Silva, Don Stroud, Alan Young, Edd \”Kookie\” Byrnes, and Gary Lockwood.

David Hedison played the continuing character of Felix Lieter in two James Bond movies, \”Live and Let Die\” and \”License to Kill\”. He recently recorded a 12 minute introduction to the eight hour CD production of \”How to Live the James Bond Lifestyle\”. This production is taken from the book \”The Complete James Bond Lifestyle\” by Paul Kyriazi, which has been selling on Amazon for the last 5 years.

This CD program is read by the author with cast members and sound effects used for dramatizations. David Hedison is known for his performance in the original \”The Fly\” movie in which his experiment in electronic teleportation gives him the head and arm of a fly.

He is also well know for his television series \”Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea\”. In his Bond Lifestyle introduction Hedison tells the story of how he ran away from his first audition, only to finally get up the courage to return and get the part. He give examples of mind sets he used to survive as a freelance actor.

At the end of his story Hedison goes into his \”Felix Leiter\” character and says, \”I backed up James Bond on two missions and I wish I could be there with you now to back you up on whatever mission that will move you forward in life. But I want you to think of me along with you backing you up on any challenge that may come to you as you take action on achieving your goals. And like I told Bond in ‘Live and Let Die’, \”I just know you want to get where the real action is.\”

Hedison met \”Bond Lifestyle\” writer/producer Paul Kyriazi at the SpyFest convention on the Queen Mary in 2002 where Kyriazi opened and closed the show teaching the audience the techniques of his success program. Hedison also recently played a lead role in Kyriazi’s upcoming audio-book \”McKnight’s Memory\” narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr. And performed by Robert Culp, Nancy Kwan, Henry Silva, Don Stroud, Alan Young, Edd \”Kookie\” Byrnes, and Gary Lockwood.

Fear is the key on a new project. You stay scared, you stay alive. There is never a right time to start a new venture. And you will always feel like an outsider trying to get in. Embrace the fear and use it’s energy.

Here’s how I came to understand that:

Nine years ago I was driving down highway 5 from San Francisco to Los Angeles to record my first 90 minute audio-book that I believed strongly in. ‘How to Live the James Bond Lifestyle’. A course that I had made up myself, using the ideas I had learned over the years in prosperity seminars.

Right then in the car, I got scared, thinking people would laugh at me listening to my audio-book, if they listened at all. They’d think, \”Who does this jerk think he is, telling me how to be James Bond?\”

I felt like calling the studio and canceling my recording. But then by chance the 6 hour audio-book I was listening to about the life of Elvis Presley, just came to the part where Elvis was preparing for his comeback TV special.

He was very scared to go in front of millions of people after being away from live performing for 10 years. After the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had knocked him out of the recording charts. Elvis was petrified with fear, but over came it and went on stage for the first taping in front of live audience, that would later go out to millions of viewers.

Hell, I thought. If Elvis could risk making a fool out of himself in front of millions, who am I to be scared of recording in front of nobody but the engineer in the studio? And putting out a book on Amazon? So what if a couple of guys laughed?

Now, years later, after teaching my techniques at the Learning Annex, opening and closing the show at SpyFest, getting great reviews on Amazon, many men changing their lives, the course expanded to 8 CDs, GUYS STILL LAUGH when they first hear the title.

So, when it gets rough and scary. Remember the Eagles’ Take it Easy’ lyrics:

\”We may lose and we may win though we will never be here again. So open up, I’m climbin’ in, so take it easy.\”

When I was about 5 years old, I grew a pumpkin. My mother was planting a garden, and I wanted to grow something too. I wanted to grow a pumpkin. Being both lazy and stubborn as a five year old, I decided that the best place to grow my pumpkin was in the loose gravel at the side of our driveway, I scooped out some gravel and poured the contents of my packet of pumpkin seeds into the hole, and then covered it with the gravel. I watered the gravel covered seeds with our garden hose, and went back to playing with my matchbox cars.

Each day, I dutifully checked on my pumpkin seeds to see how they were progressing. After a few weeks, some vines and leaves started to grow from the gravel. It was at this point that I started to realize I had a real knack for gardening. All the advice I had received with regards to where to plant and the kind of soil which was needed were clearly wrong.

One morning a few weeks later when I went to check on my plants, I spotted some orange between the leaves. As I pushed the leaves aside, I discovered a large pumpkin. It was a marvelous pumpkin, big and orange and perfect. I don’t know how I had missed it up until this point. I dragged the pumpkin up to the house, where my mother was incredibly impressed. I did not rub it in too badly that I was right about where to plant my seeds, and that she was not.

Despite this incredible early success with gardening, I did not follow up with it at all over the next 16 years. I was now in my early twenties and married. I was a newlywed and my wife, Marie, was working on planting a garden. She was complaining that she was having trouble getting the plants to grow. Me being a gracious husband, and remembering my early gardening successes, I offered my help with the garden. When questioned about what qualified me to offer advice, I quickly offered up my story about the pumpkin. It was a story I had told a number of times, and one I was quite proud of. Well, Marie’s response was not quite what I expected. Rather than jump at the chance to have a real green thumb help, she started to laugh. What’s more, the more I assured her that I had indeed grown my pumpkin, the harder she laughed. I was not going to let this go, so I insisted that we would verify my story with my family that weekend. After all, they had all seen my pumpkin and even helped carve it into a jack o lantern.

The weekend came, and I could not wait to prove to my new bride that I had in fact grown this pumpkin. I ran the scenario through my head a number of times. I would of course be gracious when she would be forced to apologize for questioning me, my story, and my gardening skills. We had scarcely entered my mother’s house when I brought up the story for her to confirm in front of Marie. My mother looked at my sister, and my sister back at my mother. Then my sister started laughing. I sensed that something was not right, when my mother dropped the bombshell on me.

You see, the vines and leaves which I dutifully watered and nurtured were simply weeds, which my mother did not have the heart to pull. As the weeds grew up, and I kept watering my mother began to feel bad that I would never get a pumpkin out of them. So one evening, she stopped at the market and picked up a pumpkin. While I was safely tucked into bed, she carefully placed the pumpkin between the weeds I had been watering. It was the next day, I discovered my accomplishment.

Now I do believe that every story and every experience has a silver lining. You can take something positive from everything if you look hard enough. In this case though, it would be another 10 years before I found the silver. I was having a hard time with someone I worked with. This person had some really backwards views about people different than him. It did not matter what kind of evidence or logic I provided, this guy was not letting go of these backwards views he had. It was obvious that he was wrong, but nothing I could say or do would break through to him. It was during one conversation with this guy, that it hit me. These backwards views he had been carrying since childhood, these views were his pumpkin. He was not holding a different opinion than me, he was holding a different reality. There was no way I would ever convince him that he had a faulty reality, so I stopped trying. And in accepting that his reality and mine were different, I was able to find a place where we were able to get along.

In fact our minds are incapable of experiencing a truly objective reality. Each of us has a concept of reality shaped by our experiences.

The first lesson I took from this is that we are responsible for our own pumpkins. Each of us has to take responsibility for reconciling our reality or our world view with those around us. You can not take it upon yourself to clear up somebody else’s pumpkin, you can only take care of your own.

The second lesson is that everyone has pumpkins. We all have places within our reality that don’t match up with those around us. Places where, good or bad, we experience the world differently. It is important to realize this and to be aware of these differences.

And finally, everyone includes you. So the next time you find yourself in a disagreement with someone realize that the thing that is coming between you may be a pumpkin, and what is more it may even be a pumpkin that you have been carrying and not them.