If you are an Elvis Presley fan, it will come as no surprise to you that he had a deep spiritual belief. He showed this by many of the gospel songs that he sang throughout his career. The one thing you probably did not realize is just how deep Elvis’ spiritual beliefs go. I have read many books on the life of Presley and followed his career throughout the years but I was amazed by how spiritual Elvis really was and how he yearned to find answers to many of the questions he had been harboring through the years.

Elvis had many questions that he wanted answered. Two of the most important to him were: Why did my twin brother die at birth! He wondered why he was the one chosen to live. The other question had to do with his mother with whom he was very close. Their family was very poor and his mother would take on all kinds of jobs to help get items so he could have the same as the other children in school. Just when his career started to really take off, his mother passed away. He was happy that she was able to enjoy some of his success but he wanted to do much more for her.

Larry Geller came to Elvis as a hairdresser. While riding in a car with Larry one day, Elvis had a spiritual sighting. Elvis was so taken by this sighting that he was ready to give up everything and wanted Larry to help him find a monastery so he could become a monk. This is probably something that no fan knows. Larry was able to change Elvis’ mind by telling him that he had a responsibility to the world and that the world needed him.

Elvis, who was very impressed by Larry Geller, hired him. Elvis believed Larry came to him – not as a hairdresser but for a reason. Larry would bring several metaphysical and spiritual books along on the customized bus where he would sit next to Elvis who was at the wheel. Elvis would pull the bus over every so often to have a chance to do some reading. He also asked Larry to speak to the other guys on the bus. He wanted to help them make the same spiritual journey.

Larry explains that he wrote this book because it is something Elvis wanted done. Larry stated that he said, “The world knows Elvis Presley all right, but they don’t know me. I want them to know me, the real person, Larry, I’m counting on you.”

Larry Geller has written a very intriguing book about the private side of Presley. I did not know many of the things that Larry mentions about him. It is nice to read a book written by a close confidant and to hear some of the singer’s innermost thoughts about his beliefs in the spiritual realm. I always heard that Elvis was very close to his mother but you don’t realize just how much she meant to him until you read this book. The author has done an excellent job of conveying Elvis’ spiritual beliefs to the reader and especially to all of his fans. If you are an Elvis Presley fan, this is a must read book.

The Elvis Presley comeback special was the top-rated television special of 1968, and most experts and fans agree it not only revitalized his career, it sealed his destiny as becoming a larger-than-life, almost mythical performer for the entire world. But there’s a great story behind the Elvis Presley comeback.

When talk of the comeback special in Elvis’ camp surfaced, he confessed he was nervous about playing live; after all, he hadn’t played a live concert in 7 years since he played in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on March 25, 1961! However, a short while after rehearsals began for the show a more confident Elvis Presley told his producer Bob Finkel he wanted to show the world what he could do.

And do, he did! The Elvis Presley Comeback Special was filmed over the course of five hours on June 27, 1968 in front of two separate audiences at NBC Burbank Studios, with a one hour break in between so Elvis could shower and have his black leather suit designed by Bill Belew dry cleaned.

Originally, Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker wanted the show to be a Christmas special complete with Christmas carols, but the chosen director, Steve Binder, saw this as an opportunity to re-establish Elvis Presley’s dwindling career. Steve Binder’s visionary personality played a large role in Elvis Presley’s ultimate success!

On December 3, 1968 the Elvis Presley Comeback Special aired, it became an amazing success, and it went down as one of the top moments in entertainment television history. Soon after, the slim Elvis Presley was in high demand and on his way to his legendary Las Vegas performances. He spent most of the next eight years on the road with his band. Some experts say the Elvis Presley Comeback Special revived his career in 1968, but that ironically, it also marked the beginning of the end of his life. Elvis died doing what he loved and he knew his fans loved him. Days before he passed away he said he was looking forward to to his greatest concert tour ever.

For many Elvis Presley fans, one of the most memorable moments deeply etched in their minds is watching a slim, incredibly handsome man walk onto the stage in 1968 wearing that famous black leather suit, and giving his fans “his all” as he had always done.

The story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley is full of enough joys and heartaches to create an intriguing and interesting hit television series for years to come even to this day! Indeed, there have been Elvis and Priscilla movies in the past, and they’ve done rather well; so what makes their lives so interesting!

It obviously starts with the most sensual male rock and roll star ever to grace a stage, a gorgeous princess-like young woman whose beauty was really something to behold, and ends in a fairytale gone sour with a not-so-happily ever after ending.

Elvis met Priscilla Beaulieu while stationed in Germany in 1959, when she was 14 1/2 and he was 24. Talk about age difference! Things were a little different and more flexible back then when it came to age differences in the dating world; if this were to happen in today’s society it would seriously be questioned, investigated, and charges would probably be filed!

But the wonderful story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley was beginning to unfold; soon Elvis and Priscilla would spend time together every chance they got. Although Priscilla’s father objected to the romance at first, her mother talked him into allowing her to see Elvis, and he agreed on one condition; a midnight curfew!

Elvis and Priscilla would usually double-date and hang out with Elvis’ friends, and they pretty much kept their relationship “under wraps,” away from the public. When Elvis left Germany in 1960, Priscilla came to terms with the fact that her relationship with Elvis might be over, but to her surprise, Elvis stayed in touch with her.

When Priscilla was seventeen years old, Elvis talked her parents into allowing her to live with his father, Vernon Presley, and his stepmother in their Memphis, TN home behind Graceland. As the story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley goes, Elvis persuaded her to come over and stay with him regularly until she finally moved in for good!

In 1966, after seven years of courting, Elvis Presley proposed marriage to Priscilla Beaulieu with a 3 1/2 carat diamond to pledge his love! They were finally married on May 1, 1967, at a very private ceremony in Las Vegas. It is said that Elvis had always told Priscilla they were to abstain from intercourse until the day they were married even though they were very attracted to each other and engaging in lesser activity. This was probably true; exactly nine months after their wedding date, their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born!

Elvis Priscilla seemed so happy at the time and those closest to Elvis say he was crazy about his little daughter, Lisa Marie. But by 1971, Elvis’ superstar lifestyle had taken its toll on the maturing Priscilla, and she was growing tired of many aspects of it, including his’ alleged affairs with other women. Priscilla fell in love with her karate instructor, Mike Stone, and saw her relationship with Stone as an escape from the life she no longer desired.

On October 9, 1973, the story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley came to an amicable end when their divorce was made final. Elvis and Priscilla shared custody of Lisa Marie, and they remained friends until his abrupt death in 1977.

There’s a major copywriting axiom that applies equally to the technique of listing products on eBay.

‘Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak’ is great advice, it means extolling the benefits of your product, not merely describing the features of whatever you are selling.

It works because people don’t buy steak for its own sake, they buy for the eating experience, the taste, the sizzle.

You must sell benefits of your product (sizzle), not the product itself (steak)if you’re going to reach the widest audience of eager bidders.

So, for example, the title ‘Figure-Hugging Crushed Silk Ivory Ballgown’ should attract more interest than ‘Woman’s Cream Frock’; ‘Elvis Presley Hand-Signed Army Recruitment Portrait’ sounds better than ‘Elvis Presley Autograph’.

These additional features ‘figure-hugging’, ‘Crushed silk’, ‘Hand-Signed’, are the sizzle, more likely to make a bidder’s mouth water than describing the product as frock, autograph, whatever.

Taking time to learn what makes your prospective buyer’s mouth water makes all the difference between attracting fabulous finishing prices for your items and those items instead going unsold.

Here are some examples based on items I currently have listed on eBay:

* I could have listed it ‘Sunday Dispatch Newspaper’ but I think I’ll get more bids and higher prices for ‘TRUTH ABOUT THE LINDBERGH BABY Newspaper 1932′. The Lindbergh baby’s disappearance is still a major interest despite the passage of 70 years. A newspaper per se, just 70 years old, is worth little or nothing. The Lindbergh Baby is the sizzle, the newspaper is the steak.

* ‘Dog Print’ is good, but infinitely better is ‘SCOTTISH TERRIER Hand-Coloured Print. Lucy Dawson. 1946′. Scottish Terrier memorabilia is hugely popular, so is Lucy Dawson, and despite being quite modern, ‘1946′ still impresses more people than a more recent presentation. ‘Scottish Terrier’, ‘1946′, ‘Lucy Dawson’, are the sizzle, ‘Print’ is the steak.

Take time over your listings, find the sizzle that sells the steak.

The belief we hold inside is a reflection of the life we’ll live outside.

I remember a practice tennis match I played one time. The score was three all in the first set and then the next thing my practice partner knew was that I had won the first set six games to three. My practice partner said, “What happened!”

I said, “I told myself to raise my game.”

“What do you mean, you told yourself to raise your game!” asked my partner.

What I was verbalizing very poorly was a positive self-expectation. This guy had never beaten me and I didn’t expect him to now. I knew I was going to win so I just raised the level of my game to meet that expectation.

This particular partner tends to have a negative attitude. He thought the worst. He expected to lose and he did. I expected to win and I did. The belief we hold inside is everything. You see, a negative self-expectation is just as powerful as a positive self-expectation just in the wrong direction. A wrong direction down the path of failure and destruction.

A man who chose that negative path was Elvis Presley. “Come on, Mark! The king of rock and roll!” Yes, the king of rock and roll. Let me explain.

Elvis Presley’s mother died of a heart condition at the age of 43. Elvis was so terrified that he would die of the same heart condition that he actually helped bring that condition upon himself.

Through worry and anxiety, Elvis’ health started to deteriorate. His heart got weaker. His attitude got weaker. His negative self-expectation got stronger.

Elvis Presley was confident he would die by the time he reached the same age as his mother’s death. He believed it with every ounce of his being. You know what happened! Elvis received what he believed. Elvis Presley died at age 43 and very near to the some month that his mother died. Coincidence! I don’t think so!

Our attitude is important. Our belief system is powerful. What we believe has a way of coming true. So, my question to you and to myself today is, what are we believing today! Are we believing failure exists around every corner or are we believing the truth that victory is closer then we think! Hold onto the positive belief of success and before we know it, we will be there.

Priscilla married the king of rock and got quite a rock herself: a 3.5 carat engagement ring surrounded by 21 smaller diamonds. For all of you who have waited a long time to get a ring from your man, you probably didn’t wait as long as Priscilla. The courtship leading up to their marriage took place over an 8 year period. Of course, the lengthy courtship may have been due in part to Priscilla’s age. She was only 14 when she met Elvis.

Priscilla’s family was stationed in West Germany at the same time as Elvis during his period in the United States Army. Priscilla’s step-father was an officer in the U.S. Airforce. Priscilla and Elvis met in 1959 at a party at Elvis’ off-base residence in Bad Nauheim, Germany. Elvis slowly convinced Prisclla’s family that she should live with his father and step-father at the back of Graceland. Reluctantly, Priscilla’s parents agreed and Priscilla enrolled in the Immaculate Conception School in Memphis. Slowly but surely, Priscilla spent more and more nights with Elvis.

The pair was married in a civil ceremony in a suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967. Elvis wore a black silk tux and cowboy boots. Priscilla donned a beaded silk gown that she designed herself coupled with a three foot veil and rhinestone crown. The ceremony was short and sweet and was only attended by a handful of family and friends. The breakfast reception that followed had 100 guests present. At the reception, the two danced to “Love Me Tender” and served a 6 tier wedding cake.

Soon after they were married, the couple had a daughter together, Lisa Marie Presley, in February of 1968. In an interesting twist of fate, Lisa Marie Presley was briefly married to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Unfortunately, the Priscilla and Elvis’s marriage was fleeting and the couple divorced in October of 1973 and were granted mutual custody of their daughter. Lisa Marie split her time between Graceland and Priscilla’s home in California. Elvis blamed himself for the divorce and felt as though he was traveling often and away from home too frequently. Several years after the divorce, Elvis died at the age of 42. After Elvis’ death, Priscilla took control of Elvis Presley Enterprises and built it to the organization it is today. One of her missions in life is to keep Elvis’s legacy protected and intact.

When people think of Memphis, Tennessee one word usually comes to mind. That word is Graceland, the famous home of Elvis Presley. If you were to visit Memphis without touring this famous attraction you could not call your trip complete. Read on and learn a little about Graceland and why you should add it to your schedule when vacationing in Memphis, Tennessee.

Graceland welcomes thousands and thousands of visitors every year. It welcomes both dedicated die hard fans of Elvis and those that are just curious as to how the man lived. The only home in the United States that gets more visitors each year is the White House. Graceland is the most popular destination in Memphis and over the years has basically become a small theme park. There are a number of different things you can do at the mansion. The first thing you must do is take a tour of the mansion itself. It will give you an idea about how Elvis lived. You will find the house interesting for sure, gaudy maybe and over the top definitely. Once you finish with the tour of the incredible house you can also see the office that Elvis used, a museum of Elvis’ automobiles, personal planes used by the King and a variety of other displays and multimedia experiences. You can then wrap everything up by viewing Elvis’ grave located in the Meditation Garden. The grave may or may not contain the body of Elvis, you decide. Whether you are a fan of Elvis or are just curious about Graceland, it is a must see attraction. It is one that you will enjoy and talk about for months.

If you would like to visit Graceland you can find it at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee. The information line is 800-238-2000. Call that number to get information on current house and admission prices. Have fun.

Got a yen for Elvis! Lots of people do. There are many variations on the theme – and each and every one of them is available in Las Vegas and only in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Elvis weddings phenomenon has been a big seller in Las Vegas ever since the king of rock and roll shook his hips and sang Hound Dog on the Ed Sullivan show a long time ago. There has been every variation on the Elvis wedding that you could probably think of – and many that you wouldn’t come up with on a bet. How about a nude Elvis! Not your thing. Ok. How about multiple Elvis impersonators – each representing the different Elvis looks and costumes the King wore at different times in his career. How about Black Elvis! Midget Elvis! Even a female Elvis is available to make your wedding plans complete. You can have Elvis on the stage, Elvis performing your wedding, Elvis serving your food to you and of course Elvis will sing the songs you want at the precisely the moment you want to hear them.

You and your bride can dress up as Elvis as well, be married by the Elvis minister, given away by Elvis Daddy, driven around town by the Elvis Limo driver and sung to over a romantic dinner by Elvis himself. It’s the Elvis weddings of your dreams limited only by your imagination and the amount of money you wish to spend and the amount of Elvis you desire to see.