Johnnie Said:

Scorpio men? should i continue this?

We Answered:

You'll never know until you try! It hurts more to try and for things not to work out, than to wonder, because you never gave it a shot!

Clifton Said:

A STEP AWAY FROM SUICIDE?

We Answered:

I know how you feels but seriously: What do you want to hear?
I could say many things that won't help you. I just hope you will find out what a wonderful person you are.

Keith Said:

Knee puffy, shooting pain but so worth it! Just ran a race?

We Answered:

Congrats -- and it's good to see the Octogenarian category is still very competitive! :-)

Seriously, good job. I want to graduate to 10K. My problem is I'm slow, not the endurance. I'd hate to see my name in the paper toward the bottom third with people older than me. There's a 15K race in my old hometown I am considering in a year. If I can average under 10 minutes a mile by then, I think I'll do it.

Anyhow, normally I run through injuries. But in your case, you just did something where you pushed yourself harder than usual. There's no reason for you not to take a break. The race pushed you harder than you would have by yourself, so you got an additional workout. You're playing with house money.

If you MUST do cardio, maybe switch to a bike for a bit. But there's no need to. You're disciplined enough to take a week off without losing anything.

Frances Said:

Questions for massage therapists?

We Answered:

The most difficult part is anatomy and physiology, and learning all the diseases and conditions that are contraindications for massage. But if you commit enough time to studying and learning the material, it won't be impossible.

I went to school three nights a week for a year. It got a little bit overwhelming near the end, mostly because I worked too hard and was putting in 18 hour days including school and that was a drain. But I made it.

Three years out of school is not that long. Many of the therapists I went through school with were in their 30s and 40s and making a career change with it. They'd been out of school for 10 or 20 years, and some even more than that.

You don't "have" to work anywhere; massage jobs don't seem to be in that short of supply, so if you don't want the job, don't apply for it. Get lots of clinical experience, way beyond whatever hours are required, and you can have any job you want when you graduate. I really don't feel that the 50 clinical hours I had to have were sufficient, and I probably put in about 200-250 hours in the school clinic before I graduated. It paid off. I landed a coveted job at a well-known local spa within a month of becoming certified. I'm a darn good therapist if I say so myself; even other therapists are surprised to learn how "green" I actually am after I work on them.

As for people wanting energy work, it depends on where you go. The owner of my spa is completely afraid of it and so no one uses it here, and no one asks for it. But when I was working through the school, I used it quite often because the people who came knew about it and were open to it.

Talk to the admissions people at the school you're looking to go to. They will often have suggestions for how to finance your education. My school offered a work-study option and also worked with a local grant organization focused on improving the local workforce, accepted the GI Bill, and if none of those options worked, they could still work something out on an individual basis. And I'll tell you from experience, you don't want to work with Sallie Mae anyway. They suck. They lose stuff, they make mistakes, their customer service bites, and they take forever to get anything done.

As far as products, you will develop your personal preferences as you go along, based on what you want to do with your massage and what your personal style ends up being like.

Other than that, I think it's a great job. I've loved it since the beginning. Either you'll take to it like a fish in water or it just won't be right for you. And if not, that's ok; keep looking and you'll find your niche. If you want to help people and you understand the importance and healing power of touch, you'll be great.

Priscilla Said:

is this fantasy trade good ?

We Answered:

yea i guess, tmac would b SG and artest would b SF and i think u'd have to include battier in order for tht deal to work