Live life as you want! You can

Chapter 6 : Making a Difference:

A Perspective on Commitment

Part one:

We all are social activities what we know or not. — Julia Butterfly Hill

School violence has increased by 41% over the past 5 years.

Every day 4,000 people die of starvation,

the equivalent of a jet plane crash every 15 minutes.

Every 24 hours, 3 species disappear from life,

13 million African children have lost their parents to AIDS.

By the time you finish reading this chapter,

a person in America will have taken his own life and similarly,

a rainforest the size of 200 buildings

in the city will have been burned and destroyed.

So why are we sitting here?

I write.

You read this book.

We must act.

But, but… what can I do?

I read things like this in the newspapers every day.

Every night I hear it on the news.

There’s nothing new.

What’s new here is that there’s no reason

why these tragedies should happen.

What’s revolutionary here is that we – you

and I have the ability to solve these problems.

And what’s even more amazing is

that we can sit here and watch everything happen.

Is it because we think we can’t do anything?

Or because we believe it’s someone else’s business?

If each of us chooses a reason,

believing in our power to make change,

we can erase all these tragedies

and all the problems in the world within a year.

********************

For example,

with world hunger.

Balbir Mathur,

an entrepreneur in Wichita,

Kansas found a simple plant whose leaves are so nutritious

that it’s almost like a magic potion.

The leaves of the moringa tree (the name of the plant)

contain seven times more vitamin C

than an orange, three times more potassium than a banana,

and four times more vitamin

A than a carrot.

A single tree can almost eliminate

that problem in a small village in a developing country.

Not only that,

the seeds can purify water,

the bark and roots are also edible,

and the plant can grow easily

and quickly on nutrient-poor soil.

Since 1984, Mathur has planted 30 million moringa trees in poor countries

around the world.

“Miracles can still happen

because people create miracles,” says Mathur.

But, but… I’m not causing problems.

Why do I have to?

Just like my old second grade teacher used to say:

It doesn’t matter who opens the jar of glue,

we are all affected if we don’t put the lid back on.

But, but… shouldn’t the government

or social services do something?

Government and social services cannot solve all of our problems.

How can they be held responsible

for all the accumulated damage caused by millions of individuals?

That’s bad news.

The good news is we can.

We.

Me and you.

One person truly has the power to make a difference.

If we still need to reform healthcare,

improve education

and make other things better,

we still have work to do.

But, but… I’m not the type to work in a soup kitchen.

Who says you have to work in the soup kitchen?

Cathy Runyan-Svacina makes a difference with marble.

That’s right, marble.

She is known in her hometown of Kansas as the “marble woman”

and she uses her collection of millions of marbles,

the largest in the world, to spread love.

She didn’t just write a book called Knuckles Down!

with 35 marble games,

but also developed the “Shoot Marbles,

Not Drugs” program,

which she introduces in schools around the world

and creates “Kindness Marble” (roughly translated: Marble of compassion)

is distributed around the world.

After her daughter (1 of Cathy’s 5 children) broke her neck in a car accident,

Cathy and her daughter made hundreds of Compassionate Marble available

in a variety of colors,

no two are the same and packaged them

as “The Legend of the Compassionate Marble.”

According to legend, the person

with the Marble of Mercy must start the day

with the marble in the left pocket.

Whenever he does a good deed,

he can move the stone to the right pocket.

And according to Cathy,

no one should go to bed without the stone in the right pocket.

Although the marble collection,

even the largest in the world is not a big deal,

Cathy learned that “it is through small

and simple things that great things can happen.”

But but… I don’t have any money.

Maizie DeVore, an 82-year-old woman

who became a grandmother in Eskridge,

Kansas who outlived both her husbands

and one of her four children,

also had no money.

But that didn’t stop her from thinking of the big idea

of ​​building a public swimming pool for children

in a town of only 500 people.

For 30 years, she resolved to collect aluminum cans and scrap metal,

knit bed covers and make jam from wild berries,

all of which she sold to raise money to build a swimming pool.

Two days a week, she rummaged through the trash cans

and scoured the streets of town in search of discarded cans.

When she worked as a back-up actress in the Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Sarah,

Tall and Simple, starring Glenn Close, DeVore

–in response to an advertisement for a rural woman

with a weathered face in the local newspaper,

even convinced Close to donate $2,000.

Finally, in July 2001, DeVore’s dream

of building a local children’s pool came true.

The swimming pool with the size of 12 x 22m was opened right opposite her house,

and she wore a swimsuit bought at the age of 40,

was the first to open the lake.

Talk about money.

The great activist Buckminster Fuller once said that

if the money in the world were divided equally among everyone,

each of us would have $1.3 million.

But, but… I don’t have time.

I don’t deny that most of us are over-committed,

over-stressed and exhausted.

But I have to ask the following question:

Why?

Do you really need a weekly manicure?

Are episodes of the sitcom Seinfeld really that important to your happiness?

Gandhi once said that if he had a busy day,

he could simply add meditation to his to-do list.

Otherwise he would never get things done.

To have time,

you just need to spend time daydreaming.

Bring your own magic.

When your soul is filled with mystery and passion,

you can’t help finding the time.

But, but… I’m too young,

too old,

too ugly

Nkosi Johnson is only 7 years old.

The boy has terminal AIDS

and weighs less than 14kg.

But every day the boy still talks about the importance

of love and acceptance.

He opened a shelter in Johannesburg,

South Africa for children who had lost their parents to AIDS.

Doris Haddock was 90 years old when she walked

from Los Angesles to Washington, D.C.

to support the financial reform movement.

Despite dehydration, snow, ice,

arthritis and lung disease,

she walked about 16km every day

until she reached the steps of the Capitol

and persuaded members of Congress

to stop accepting money from interest groups,

special benefit.

“We have a responsibility to look after each other

and we created government for this reason,” she said.

If we lose control of the government

then we lose the ability to take care of each other.”

The number of years doesn’t matter,

except for cheese.

But, but… I only have one.

All the people

who live the life they want in this book are also alone.

One person can make a big change.

We must never forget that fact.

Marian Wright Edelman says:

“When trying to think of how to make a big difference,

we must not overlook the many small everyday differences

that we can make and that over time add up

and make a difference,

big difference.”

People who live the life they want. — Julia Butterfly Hill

Refusing to leave the 55-meter-wide bird’s nest to save a 1,000-year-old tree

Never underestimate the power of one’s actions. — Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia Butterfly Hill was only 23 years old

when she decided to live the life she wanted.

It was not a conscious choice at first.

She had just been in a terrible car accident,

her skull hitting the steering wheel

and making it difficult for her to walk, talk,

and do many of the things most of us take for granted.

When she was finally able to do those things normally,

she realized it was time to get out of her old life in Arkansas.

She decided to seek enlightenment in the Far East.

Before she got there,

she met a group of tree-huggers in California,

as she called them back in Arkansas.

As she wandered the lost shores of California,

she began to feel empathy for the giant redwoods.

She was moved by their beauty and strength.

She begins to hear a voice suggesting

that instead of going to India,

her fate lies somewhere in the middle of this jungle.

When she heard that Pacific Lumber was planning

to turn this entire thousand-year-old redwood forest into someone’s backyard,

she decided to take action.

On December 10, 1997,

at the age most other girls would start a business

or start a family

or even become a mother,

she kissed the ground goodbye

and climbed 55 meters up a giant redwood tree.

By the time of the full moon,

using rock climbing equipment

she had never seen before,

let alone used,

she had climbed the equivalent of 18 floors

to reach a platform 2x3m wide.

She vowed to stay there until the Pacific Lumber Company

and its parent corporation, Maxxum,

agreed to let the tree live.

She sat alone on this platform for two years and eight days.

She uses a block of margarine as a toilet,

uses candles for light,

and uses a single propane stove to cook.

Her only companion is a small group of support personnel

who every few days walk about two kilometers over rough terrain,

using pulleys attached to a bucket,

providing her with essentials,

and let her know about the growing anger of the corporation.

She defied strong winds of 145km/h, freezing cold,

police with loudspeakers and,

above all,

threats of eviction from the mighty Maxxum Corporation,

which seemed to claim

to have cleared the giant redwoods is their economic right

What about the trees

that were here before Christopher Columber was born?

What if only 3% of the 8,000 m² giant forest survived?

On January 1, 1998,

clearing caused a landslide that destroyed 7 families’ homes?

What if they broke the 250 articles of the California Forest Protection Code?

Chile has announced that it won’t allow the cutting of aclerces,

California’s redwoods,

no matter where they grow?

We are Americans

and making money is our basic right.

But Julia Butterfly Hill is also an American

and she has the right to follow her heart,

taking civil disobedience if she has to.

At first, having to live alone on a tiny platform

with nothing but tarpaulins seemed lonely and scary.

She keeps herself busy

by writing poetry on the back of her food container,

exercising by climbing tree branches.

She claims the tree she named Luna became her best friend,

chatting with her, instructing her on how to “bend and droop”,

and even cry out loud

with sap while looking at her siblings was murdered

because of mass consumerism.

Hill’s refusal to live a small life became a springboard for others.

She has attracted many celebrities

such as Woody Harrelson,

Bonnie Raitt and Joan Baez,

who have walked more than 3km

to the forest to visit her.

She eventually became a celebrity in her own right,

receiving interviews about solar-powered phones from Newsweek, CNN,

and many other organizations.

George magazine also named her

one of the 10 most influential people of 1999

and Robert Duvall bought the film rights to her book,

Luna’s Legacy.

When we decide to live the life we ​​want,

a lot can happen.

From Hill’s act of love,

as she called it,

she saved Luna’s life.

When she finally landed on the ground on December 17, 1999,

Maxxum Corporation agreed to let Luna live

with more than 11,000 square meters

of land around the tree.

To continue her work,

Hill founded an organization called Life Circle

that promotes living in harmony with nature.

People who live the life they want. — Maureen Kushner

********************

You will get what you really want.

If you want to be rich, your goal must be wealth.

Not just enough money to pay the bills,

and not just enough money to be comfortable.

To be rich means to be truly affluent. – T. Harv Eker

Always looking for the greatest potential

There will never be peace in the world if humans don’t receive the science,

miracles,

warmth, and beauty of every child. — Shlomo Carlebach

Maureen Kushner has a theory.

If you talk about your work after hours are over,

you’ve probably found your passion.

If you can’t wait to get home,

checking your watch every 5 minutes to see if it’s 5 o’clock,

maybe you should keep looking.

She said: “Artists and dancers always talk about their work.

And that’s how I feel about teaching. I love teaching.”

Kushner has truly found his passion,

not simply teaching,

but spreading big dreams to children

who don’t have many opportunities.

For 25 years, she taught drawing

and creative writing in the heart of New York City

– first in Harlem and then in Washington Heights,

a crowded school where students often pass by shops,

drugs with weapons

and saw a shooting scene while going to class.

One of her students said,

“This is not Mr. Roger’s area.”

Because many of her students come from immigrant families

and English is a second language,

they don’t rank well on achievement tests.

But by the time they were taught by Maureen,

90% of the students were ranked in the top ten nationally in reading and math,

a leap that shocked administrators so much

that they had to double-check them over

and over to make sure they weren’t mistake.

Many of her students receive scholarships to prestigious schools

for gifted students at the other end of the city.

The teacher openly shared:

“I walk into every classroom and say,

‘What is the greatest potential here?’

Her enthusiasm and love of beauty spread everywhere.

To discover that potential,

she is often forced to think more,

more breakthrough.

In Washington Heights,

for example, she taught children to read and write

by founding the Comedy Club.

While teaching in place of one of the most difficult classes in school,

she discovers a caricature that someone has carved on her desk.

“It’s vandalism but the painting is amazing,

so detailed,

so precise and so expressive,”

Maureen said.

She immediately found the “saboteur”

and appointed the student as a cartoonist for the new Comedy Club

and found many other students

who also enjoyed drawing,

writing stories,

and acting. Under her enthusiastic guidance for 12 years,

the Comedy Club produced 18 comic books,

including an anti-drug coloring book,

an inverted dictionary and the Alf-Laugh book.

-a-Bet, a grammar book for tourists,

15 shows and countless murals and posters.

Their Comic Parade for Peace,

a 12-meter-long mural featuring cartoon characters

from around the world,

appeared at the United Nations and Moscow.

After being personally invited to RCA radio

to watch a Whoopi Goldberg movie,

the kids in the club wrote a book called Whoopi’s Whoppers

about the comedian’s strange hair.

Not long after,

400 kids wanted to join Kushner’s club.

Kushner, who requires children to read at least 20 funny books a year,

more than they have to read in English class, says:

“The kids are so happy they don’t even realize they’re studying.

Humor helps them achieve a new steady state,

inspires,

responds to a higher calling.”

When Maureen first arrived at City College in New York,

she thought she liked the international relations department best.

Her parents insisted that she take a few credits in teaching

just in case she needed it.

To get her graduate education,

she started tutoring in New York.

She was amazed at what she found there,

so fascinated with the potential of her students

that she changed careers almost immediately.

“Sometimes you find a child boring,” she said.

And then,

if you do it right,

you will see the world within them.

Behind the depressed-looking faces is a whole world of hope.”

For Kushner, teaching is an art

and she has dedicated her life to nurturing children’s great potential.

And while she’s proud of the dramatic changes in test scores,

she’s also proud

to have given her students a cause

to believe in whether it’s cleaning up the Hudson River,

which a class of her 4th graders did with Pete Seger’s small boat,

Clearwater or conflict resolution,

something she repeatedly did through games and skits.

In 1994, the Israeli Ministry of Education asked her

to come to children in Israel.

Using her personal savings to buy stationery,

she walked or rode the bus to schools across Israel

to present her creative “Peace with Humor” workshop

to Jewish children, Arab,

Druze and Bedouin.

She teaches them how to express themselves through drawing,

coloring and telling jokes.

An exhibition of 45 children’s works took place across 40 cities in the US,

including Philadelphia during the 2000 Republican National Convention.

No one hoped that “Peace Through Humor” could resolve

the conflicts in this war-torn nation

but by letting children be creative

to express their feelings,

by teaching them tolerance and understanding through jokes,

as Maureen puts it:

“If one of these kids remembers this experience years later,” who knows…

“Once you start laughing and getting creative,

you forget about throwing food around the room,” says Maureen.

You forget about selling drugs.

You forget your mortal enemy.

I don’t change people.

I just took them somewhere more meaningful and different.”

“When children listen to their hearts

and discover the best part of them,

peace can happen,” she said.

On February 19, 1995,

the day an exhibition of children’s paintings was opened at the Knesset,

Israel’s Parliament,

terrorists blew up Jerusalem bus number 18,

killing most of the people on car.

Seven heads of state,

including King Hussein and Hosni Mubarak,

who pledged to attend the ceremony,

did not show up.

Maureen wondered if the grand opening would take place.

She was pacing the floors of the Knesset as a large bus loaded

with children from all over Israel arrived,

children from her program,

children from all different races and cultures.

She cried as she watched each child holding hands

and getting out of the car.

Yes, the children’s parents may not like each other but the children,

who are enlightened

by Maureen’s vision of “the limitless possibilities

of a better and brighter world”,

can create a distinctive.

10 good people

In the Bible there is the story of Sodom and Gomoraah,

two cities that once existed in the Holy Land.

It’s a pretty impressive story.

There were parties (too many according to God)

and people were turned to salt

(this happened to Lot’s wife

when she turned around to see the fireworks).

When God told Abraham that God was going

to destroy the two cities,

Abraham begged for mercy.

Abraham said,

“What if I find 50 upright people?”

God said, “Okay.

Then you can keep your city.”

A few days later Abraham came back and asked,

“Is 45 or 40 people okay?”

Again God agrees.

Finally, after much searching and begging,

Abraham begged down to 10 people.

God agrees to save Sodom and Gomorrah

if Abraham can find 10 good people.

I like to think about that story

when the world seemed too much for me to bear,

when I heard about 16-year-olds shooting at their peers,

6-year-olds being raped by their grandfathers.

When I started to wonder

what difference someone like me could make.

All I need to remember is

that if I can find 9 more good people

then we can save the world.

I dare you to stop following the crowd.

Join a noble ideal.

Let’s start a crusade.

The aim of the rich is to really accumulate a great wealth,

to be truly rich.

Not just a little bit of money,

but a lot of money. – T. Harv Eker

***************************

3 big questions

This is the real joy in life,

been used for a purpose

that you decide a good purpose.

Life is not a short candle.

It is a beautiful short that you must keep

and burn before giving to future generations. — George Bernard Shaw

In 1999, 400,000 Americans had to spend money on liposuction.

In that year, 12 million people died of starvation.

Perhaps instead of asking,

“Where can I find a liposuction doctor?”

then we should ask the following questions:

How can I open my heart and love others more today?

How can I be more honest with myself?

How can I see life more clearly

and create more power in my life?

Soul training camp

Choose an ideal,

any idea we are in the mist

but some of we know look up to the stars. —Oscar Wilde

***************************

Exercise: Pick a hero,

someone like Balbir Mathur

or Julia Butterfly Hill

and learn everything you can about their cause.

Record it for later use,

check it out on the Internet,

go to the library.

In Canada there is a scouting organization called Beaver Scouts.

Their slogan?

I promise to love God and take care of the world.

What a noble gesture.

What would our world be like

if we could take care of our little world.

If we take on the responsibility of getting to know everyone

who lives in our neighborhood

or apartment complex

A person who lives the life he wants will know the names of every child

and every pet in the neighborhood he lives in.

It doesn’t take long to make a change.

Invite the single mom in your neighborhood over for a cake.

Teach her children the lyrics

to the songs you knew as a child.

Invite them over to play cards.

Tell them about your child.

Each of us has a prosperity profile in mind.

This profile contains our own beliefs,

including why being rich is so great. – T. Harv Eker

***************************

Chapter 7 : Rich Imagination:

Perspectives on Creation

If your heart pulls you in a direction that contains mysteries

and wonders,

trust and follow it. — David Wilcox

Although I like Saint Francis of Assisi very much,

I must say that I prefer the crazy ones.

Tree-huggers, Harleys riders, nose piercings.

People with different mindsets.

Despite this unusual craving,

most of the time I still feel like tasteless gelatin.

It’s true that I want to rebel,

but I also want people to like me.

So I follow the rules.

Cut the grass in the yard.

Watch your feet as you step

to know you’re on the right track.

One day I woke up to find that my bold

and creative self had given way to a lonely stranger.

Instead of following the wolves,

I rowed with the lemmut.

My foolish ideas, my odd dreams were left

to wither on the green grass of the suburbs.

I don’t know how it happened.

It’s like frogs and water.

You can’t throw a frog into the water

while it’s boiling.

It’ll jump out of the water

before you can say,

“Fried frog legs.”

But if you boil the water gradually,

the frog will not realize that it is being boiled alive.

Similarly, if some force tries to “boil” our uniqueness,

we take immediate action.

But if we do it gradually,

we will agree to obey,

giving up everything that is interesting and unique

and “who we really are.”

Rich fantasy is groundbreaking,

jumping out of the boiling water

no matter how long you’ve been boiled.

It means saying,

“I’m here.”

Say, “I am important.

I represent something.

I have never been and never will be invisible.”

We all have a lot to show off.

We have many thoughts in our heads,

many burning dreams.

But instead of expressing ourselves,

we buy Hallmark cards

and let others speak for us.

When the people we love the most graduate from high school,

to celebrate a holiday,

we rely on “experts”

to express our love for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Do I mean what’s in the floral card

or in the blue plaid card?

When we don’t express ourselves,

when we suppress our anger,

fear,

and joy,

we separate ourselves from the life of our lives.

Rollo May once said in his famous book,

The Courage to Create:

“If you don’t express your original ideas,

if you don’t listen to yourself,

you’ve betrayed yourself.“

It doesn’t matter if your creative efforts are never published.

It doesn’t matter whether you win awards

or become famous.

It is important that you are willing and able to express

who you are and how you feel.

We all have feelings.

That’s why you feel lightheaded

when you see a beautiful picture

or read a novel that speaks to the heart.

I believe that much of what we call depression is

due to unexpressed creativity.

Instead of being expressed,

our creative energy,

our life force,

makes us explode.

Creativity has the power to transform

not only individuals making art

but also society as a whole.

Often when we want to become “deeper” we think

about things like being kinder,

more understanding,

praying more.

But to fulfill our mission as brainchild,

we must also become more creative,

more open-minded.

Why don’t we appreciate creativity?

First of all, we run the risk of being alienated.

Although many people idolize famous movie stars

and writers who appear on Good Morning America,

they do not appreciate the people who can write poetry

or play the piano,

close in their lives.

When we are creative,

we are often alone,

in another world.

Because people often feel threatened.

They will say, “Okay” and “Go on”

when something of yours is published

or you get a role in a play,

but before that they will look at you unfriendly,

raise their eyebrows as if you were an alien.

When you’re creative,

you make yourself vulnerable,

throw away caution,

and hold nothing back. Phil Collins likens it

to going on stage without pants.

As long as you keep quiet,

nod your head at the right time

and follow the rules of do’s and don’ts,

no one will laugh,

disagree

or judge you.

But when you write,

speak or draw,

the mask disappears.

Everyone will know.

And that requires courage.

You also need to be brave to face your fears

and face the truth.

As you surrender to your imagination,

you may find that the truth is the opposite

of the character you present to the world.

As Faulker puts it, ”

The book is the secret life,

the evil twin of the writer.”

You may find that you don’t want to do the things

that society thinks you should do.

For example,

Emily Dickinson discovered

that she did not want to marry

and have a home like her mother thanks to literature.

And it certainly takes courage to stand up

to the voices that keep telling you,

“You are boring,” voices that insist,

“You have no talent,”

and “If you write or draw,

you run the risk of falling into financial risk.”

You need courage to fight them,

to move forward when they constantly get in your way.

You need the courage to keep going

when the work doesn’t meet your expectations

Either way,

you still have to keep working hard.

You will encounter many rejections,

there will be times when people will say,

“Sorry, I don’t want to.”

We must have the courage to keep going.

Ironically, we read self-help books.

We complain about our weaknesses.

However, when we have the opportunity to change,

become a “bigger person” that fate decides,

we shrink and hide.

Think acorns.

Inside the tiny bark is the germ of the great oak tree.

It can roll around all year long,

lying in a squirrel’s nest or a boy’s trouser pocket.

But when the conditions are right,

when planted in the ground,

with enough water and sunshine,

it will grow into a tall oak tree.

The purpose of our lives is

to add value to the people of this generation

and the generations to come after. – T. Harv Eker

********************

People who live the life they want. — Berry Gordy

No mountain is too high

“You cannot tell a dream people: “be careful.”

you can only say:

“think a lot, love a lot

and pray a lot and if it still doesn’t,

look so much.”—Robert Bly

In January 1959, a 13-year-old Detroit school dropout borrowed $800

from his family’s savings to buy a house

—an odd goal for his age.

But this young entrepreneur has a further vision.

You’re going to use that two-story house

to start a record company.

That boy was of course Berry Gordy,

his record company was Motown

and the plan,

let’s say it worked.

Between 1959 and 1972, Gordy’s Motown company released 535 singles,

75% of which entered the music charts.

From a recording studio barely larger than a double bed,

Gordy produced 60 chart-topping songs

before moving to Hollywood and selling Motown

to MCA Records for $61 million.

I tell you this story

because it demonstrates the power of embracing greater possibility.

Berry Gordy can rest in peace with her fate.

The black boy,

who dropped out of school

when he was only 8th grade,

failed in his boxing career

and could not play an instrument or read music.

But he has a dream.

He wants to compose songs.

And if no one made them, he would make them himself.

Pursuing our dreams is the starting point for all of us.

We have a vision.

We hear the heartbeat.

We wonder if “we can”… compose songs,

compose poetry

or become a new person.

We are ready to say, “Maybe.”

But even Gordy didn’t know that

when he recruited 19-year-old Smokey Robinson

and his school quartet,

the Matadors (later renamed the Miracles),

he was creating one of the biggest musical phenomena of his time.

When we first start following our dreams,

we don’t know where they will lead us.

If we see the end result in advance,

we get scared,

stop and think,

“Oh, that’s too big.”

Fortunately, all we can do now is take that first step,

the first foot out the door.

Another thing the Motown phenomenon shows

is talent that often goes undiscovered.

If Berry Gordy was satisfied

with his job at the Detroit auto plant,

one of many he tried before he founded Motown,

he would never have given Diana Ross,

Stevie Wonder,

and hundreds of poor black children,

another miserable escape from the slums.

If Diana Ross hadn’t had a vision,

she might just be a bag seller on Ninth Street;

Stevie Wonder is just a blind child living on welfare.

Thank God, they have the opportunity

to tap into the creative spirit within them.

If Gordy hadn’t turned the house at 2648 West Grand Avenue

into a meeting place,

songs like “Hearing on the Grapes,”

“No Mountain Is Too High,”

and a thousand other songs would never have been written. out.

For example,

I will get a completely different education.

If it weren’t for the Four Tops song “Stretch Out and I’ll Be There,”

I would never have danced

with Andy Gilmore at Jim Rinklemeyer’s party.

I would never have known he wore Brut perfume,

never knew he smelled like mothballs,

a discovery that was undoubtedly

due to the tweed shirt

he stole from his brother’s closet,

and you’ll never know what it feels like

to like someone when you’re 13.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the courage

to talk to you again.

How many of us don’t have the courage

to study the creative spirit within us?

How many of us don’t dare

because we don’t have a vision yet?

The talents that Gordy

finds in his students are also hidden in the people

we meet every day.

They’re hidden because no one is looking,

no one is saying,

“Hey, let’s see what we can do.”

They are hidden behind thoughts of unworthiness,

behind the “masks” we wear.

Each of us has the same creative spirit.

But no,

you might think Detroit is different.

The list of superstars is still long

– the Temps,

the Tops, the Vandellas, the Supremes.

But you know what?

Gordy could easily open that record company

and succeed in Cleveland,

Chicago,

Omaha or Nebraska,

for example.

There are Temps, Tops,

Vandellas, Supremes everywhere.

There are talented people everywhere

1.The only thing they don’t have is Gordy’s vision.

I don’t mean to deny the great talent in Detroit at the time.

What they did with the three-song recording system

at Studio A could be compared

to sitting in front of a bus.

But it happens only when one is ready to step up,

ready to say, “I believe.”

********************

People who live the life they want. — Brandon Sherwood

His magical art awakens the child within us

If you listen to your heart everything will be meaning. — Brandon Sherwood

Bradon Sherwood lives in his fantasy world.

He entered this world, a joyful world

where everyone was noble and beautiful,

immersed in it and aroused it

to rid a society that had lost its morale.

His resume states that he is an artist,

furniture maker,

woodcarver.

But he knows who he is.

A missionary is distributing love,

happiness,

and possibility.

His real job is to introduce people to the world of fantasy,

the world we used

to know and delight in immersing ourselves in during childhood.

To him, that world is like the painful,

heartless illusion we all believe in when we grow up,

get jobs,

and become complacent.

“Imagination sets you free” is his tagline

and the whimsical works he carefully carve out of pine

are truly the work of his soul,

small pieces of a magical forest telling us.

“Here anything is possible.”

Every time someone buys cabinets,

beds,

antiques,

mirror frames or other outlandish sculptures,

they’re buying a piece in Sherwood’s woods,

a seed of harmony he hopes they’ll nurture.

His clients,

which range from Dan Fogelberg to John Denver,

couldn’t be happier.

A former CIA agent recently sold his Colorado home

with its furniture but refused

to sell the P. J. Trickster rabbit he bought from Brandon.

A philosopher and artist,

Sherwood engraves the universal message of freedom

and imagination into each of his works.

For example, a grandma’s watch engraved with gnomes,

bears,

and dragons might include the message:

“Time is precious, don’t waste it.”

One day, he hopes to write a children’s book

with the characters from Sherwood’s Forest.

Although he sells his work at festivals,

art fairs and galleries across the country, he says,

“I tell people,

“You don’t have to buy it.

How does that make you feel?”

“People need to listen to their hearts” he said.

Find out their purpose.

Part of living is adventure.

So a lot of people are just living and existing.”

His mission is nothing but rekindling the fire within.

He hopes to be able to connect people

with their childhood passions.

As for me, I hope I never grow up.

At the age of 39,

he loves taking care of his family,

children and his wife,

Dee, is also an artist who works with him,

he is also a responsible man

but he is still a child by nature,

a child with a burning passion.

“People say to me,

‘I’d love to do art, too,

but it’s not very realistic,’ to me,

it’s not realistic that spending eight hours a day working

that you’re not passionate about,

makes the soul,”

Sherwood says you are withered and exhausted.”

The artist from Salina, Kansas,

grew up in a family of three boys.

His father,

a builder and woodcarver,

introduced him to wood when he was a child,

and since he was a child he has enjoyed crafts.

When his father restored an old 1950s English restaurant in McPhearson,

Kansas, he asked Brandon if he would like to try carving table legs.

Brandon said, “Yes,”

and since then,

sculpting has become his passion.

The determined artist,

who makes a living showing art at art exhibitions

and receiving commissions, says:

“I have never had to compromise or make sacrifices.”

Jay Nelson, owner of a gallery that sells his work, says:

“Brandon is really interesting.

He has the fervor of a revolutionary,

the ideals of a monk

and the energy of a 12-year-old.”

Brandon said:

“I support the journey into the fantasy world.

Step into that world

and you will find euphoria.

You will fly up.”

People who live the life they want. — Jan D’Esopo

****************************

She crosses the ocean to pursue her passion

Some people born in the rich family.

I was born with an old tree in my hand. — Jan D’Esopo

Jan D’Esopo was a single mother

when she packed and moved her children from Hartford,

Connecticut to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

She didn’t know a word of Spanish,

but she knew the light and energy of Old San Juan was the perfect choice

for her artist dreams.

“I didn’t think about being scared at the time,” she said.

Part of being an artist is being brave

and that means creating the life you want for yourself.”

Within 12 hours of landing in San Juan,

D’Esopo found a 200-year-old old Spanish house

with affordable rent.

It was true that the house was very old

and in poor condition,

but D’Esopo saw potential in it.

Once the residence of an artillery captain,

the house was very large,

with many private balconies,

ocean views and most importantly,

all the little nooks and crannies

where she could paint.

She paid to hire some local kids to clean up the trash

and within a few months she and her son

and daughter had a wonderful place to stay.

With her two children,

it will take her two years to restore this place.

But today, after 40 years,

the old Spanish house has become a popular holiday home,

her children are married,

and the artist

with a passion that never goes away,

who could have rested, continues to create.

In fact, her Galeria motel just north of Old San Juan is

where her individuality comes from.

Known in San Juan simply as Jan D’Esopo’s home,

the house with its quirky architecture,

secret gardens,

winding stairs

and uneven floors is home

to artworks from the past.

D’Esopo’s past four decades.

She laughs:

“My son and daughter are very artistic,

but my stuff is already hanging on the wall and lying on the floor

so they have no room to show it off.”

With four art studios,

the lodge is home to artists.

Original paintings,

silk screens,

terracotta relics

and busts of Abe Lincoln

and semi-nude statues of volleyball players are used

to decorate guest rooms,

wine decks and stairs.

“I used to paint in every corner of the house,” says D’Esopo.

I think guests don’t like clutter.

But in the end everyone came here

and I decided to take over the whole house.

Creativity belongs to the right hemisphere.

Talking uses the left hemisphere of the brain,

so I thought about using both hemispheres at the same time.

And in doing so,

she inspired others,

made them braver,

ready to pursue their artistic ambitions.

As she puts it, “the decision to create the life

we ​​want is entirely up to each of us.”

And according to her,

anyone can.

They just need to believe.

“Most of my guests are painters

or antique collectors,” she says.

She also receives a lot of letters

from past guests thanking her

for giving them inspiration.

“They wrote letters

and said that their visit was a turning point

for their creativity,” she said.

D’Esopo won her first drawing award at the age of 9,

she took her artistic talent

and used it to make her life more useful.

She makes every little corner of life beautiful.

If it weren’t for her,

the busy historic neighborhood of Old San Juan

today would never have been renovated.

When she arrived in 1961, much of the area was in disarray.

She convinced the doubtful Thomas

that Old San Juan deserved a renovation.

She painted the brilliant colors,

and doing so has led to numerous discussions

with skeptical building owners.

Today she mainly does other sculptures.

“I have always loved sculpture,

but it was only after a major exhibition

of my paintings at the Bronx Museum of Art in 1985

that I devoted myself to sculpture.

Perhaps when raising children,

I think leaving an easel

and painting around is better than a giant sculpture studio.

At least the paint is ‘friendly’ to the kids.”

At one point, she offered portrait packages

of lodgers that five-day guests were willing

to sit as bust models.

Today, she is too busy with community activities.

She recently placed a nearly three-meter-tall bronze statue

of Barbosa in front of San Juan Medical Center.

She also participated in the construction

of the Columbus Fountain in downtown San Juan.

What about the color pictures she drew

when she first pursued her dream in Puerto Rico?

They are in private collections worldwide.

Not so bad for a single mom with big dreams.

****************************

People who live the life they want. —Wyland

Paint the world’s oceans

You can’t rest while you’re busy. —Wyland

It’s wonderful that the book Live Life As You Want it to mention the artist

who appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records as the person

who painted the world’s largest mural.

That’s Wyland, the 390-meter ocean mural

in front of the Long Beach Convention Center,

and his story is apt to demonstrate

what a man with big dreams can accomplish.

Wyland was born 45 years ago with a limp in one leg.

At the age of 7, he had to undergo 11 major surgeries.

It was this that caused his already very difficult family

to move 13 times in a year.

For many years, he was in a cast and could not enter the water,

which was difficult for the boy

who adored Jacques Cousteau’s Underwater World.

While the boy’s brothers were out playing volleyball,

Wyland stayed at home to learn to draw.

He seemed to have a gift,

and his mother

and art teachers at school encouraged him to make use of it.

Before that, he used to swirl some house paint,

hide under the bed

and paint murals behind the headboard.

At the age of 16,

he received his first public mural contract,

an Alpine landscape at Dairy Queen in suburban Detroit.

In 1971, his artistic vision became clear

when his family visited a relative in Laguna Beach, California.

After asking his aunt to drive him to the beach,

he stared into the sea

and suddenly in a moment he will never forget,

two California gray whales appeared on the water.

“At that point, everything changed for me”, says Wyland.

“Immediately I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

I knew I had to do everything

I had to do to make it happen.”

It took a lot of effort at first. After all, Wyland was just a 23-year-old boy

when he met with city officials in Luguna Beach

with a proposal to paint a life-size mural

of mother and baby whales on a 43×8 wide wall. m by the sea.

It took two years of legal wrangling

and bureaucracy,

but because the mural idea received

such a positive response,

he set a goal to paint 100 public murals

within 30 days in the next year.

So far, he has completed 86 paintings.

One of the majestic life-size murals is “The Whale Wall”

and he devoted all his time and energy to it,

no small dedication,

as each wall required at least 3,785 liters of paint.

His aim is to call attention to the beauty

and importance of the world’s oceans.

“I drew not only whales,

but also their wonderful spirit,” says Wyland.

I think if people can see the beauty of nature

then they will help protect nature.”

The six million square feet of public art he’s created

so far appear everywhere,

from the old warehouse, the 16-story building

to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.,

the National Maritime Museum of New York. Zealand

and a wall in Portland that he completed in just over 3 days.

********************

Wyland said:

“I will keep looking for great walls.”

He hopes that the 100th wall will be the Great Dealer in China

with its width able to break his current world record.

Wyland, a big thinker,

big talker, and big personality, says,

“Big things fascinate me.

Maybe because I like to focus on the big picture.”

His artwork reaches far beyond the whale walls.

With over 200,000 collectors in 70 countries,

this maritime artist Michelangelo is the most recognized oceanic artist on the planet.

He has written five books

and is currently collaborating with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography

to create an art and science curriculum called Clean Water:

The Twenty-First Century,

which will reach 67 million children at school age.

“I absolutely believe that one person can make a difference,” says Wyland.

What do you think?

My friend Greg Tamblyn,

a talented musician,

wrote a funny song that is also the title of his first CD.

The song is called:

“Shoot-Out at the I’m OK, You’re OK Corral.”

It starts like this:

I can see it’s not just an argument between two lovers

When she told me to force her

and blame my mother

I shouted, “I’m not the only one.”

And so the quarrel began.”

The song is quite funny because he

and his girlfriend start insulting each other

with sentences taken from

the latest self-help books.

She said, “I have Peter Pan syndrome.

You will never grow up.”

And he replied,

“Look who’s talking,

the woman loves so much.”

The song continues as follows:

I know she will argue with me to the end

When she mentioned Dear Abby and quoted Dr. Ruth.

Although the song is quite humorous,

it also touches on something quite sensitive.

We don’t look into our hearts.

We are busy quoting

Dr. Ruth or Marianne Williamson or any of those famous new writers

that we forget to quote our own words.

What do we think? Most of us don’t know.

We look for answers from the outside.

We look at others without seeing ourselves.

Unfortunately.

Life is being wasted.

We are not happy.

We don’t create the beautiful things we could have done.

We do not live, we do not celebrate.

Instead, we follow rules set forth

by some writer we’ve never met.

I don’t care how smart the author

of the next bestseller is.

They don’t know the secrets of your life.

Only one person knows.

What do you like?

What is important to you?

Do you know?

Your first priority should be to get to know yourself.

Only then can you sing your song.

You have to find within yourself a new individual,

someone who is different from the others.

Find yourself.

Find your good stuff.

Then you will be liberated.

Just like an acorn waiting to grow into a tree,

the creative life force is within you,

waiting to grow into a great person.

That’s right, you can wait.

Put it in the squirrel nest.

Tuck into the bag.

But eventually it will find the right conditions.

It will grow.

Next time an idea whispers in your ear,

take the time to listen.

Say: “Yes, I am willing to try.”

********************

3 big questions

If you know, you can dance.

If you know,

you can be hot. — Zimbabwean proverb

In the past five years,

the number of cosmetic surgeries in the US has doubled.

Perhaps instead of a good plastic surgeon,

we should ask ourselves:

1.How can I develop my passion,

intuition,

and vision?

2. How can I bring miracles to life?

3.When I was 8 years old,

what did I want most?

Soul training camp

Put creativity on your to-do list

My little light.

I will make it shine. — Christianity

**************************

Exercise:

Do something every day for the next 7 days.

It could be a poem (a haiku with only 17 syllables),

a paper hat or a pot of soup.

Maybe you want to compose music for a product you use.

Or draw a new hat for the Hat Cat.

But no matter what,

you must exercise your creativity every day

for the next 7 days.

Jay Leno says it’s like weight training.

And just as your biceps get bigger with each lift,

your creativity and imagination get better as they are exercised.

You don’t have to spend hours,

but do something every day.

You can’t think of a day

without brushing your teeth or showering.

Isn’t it less important to follow your dreams?

Creativity test

The SAT tests whether you are smart enough

to get into college,

the LSAT tests whether you can get into law school,

and the MCAT tests whether you can get into medical school.

But this is the best known quiz

to test human creativity which is completely free.

Go get your pencil

Thinking big and acting big will bring you both money

and meaning in life.

The choice is yours. – T. Harv Eker

********************

Chapter 8 : Participating fully: Perspectives on happiness

I want to run,

I want to capture the greatest time in human history to live,

to use all my senses,

to see,

to touch,

to listen,

to smell, to taste

and to hope that others will run with me,

chase ideas

and be chased by ideas. — Ray Bradbury

One of the most basic things a person can do is see life as a fun time.

To make the decision to become happy.

But make no mistake.

Living the joyful life is a revolutionary act.

It requires vigilance.

Although no one, except perhaps comedian Niles Cranes,

will tick the box “No” after reading the answer:

“Do you want to be happy?”

but only a few of us believe we have a choice.

We think it’s fate, it’s fate.

Do we have charming parents?

Does our spouse choose romantic birthday gifts?

Does our job pay overtime?

But those are not important.

Whether you are happy

or not is entirely up to you,

never mention the word fate here.

Maybe I should repeat:

You have the choice to live happily.

You have the power to choose

how to infuse your happiness model into all your thoughts,

feelings, and actions.

The problem is that the pattern that has existed

for the last 5,000 years has been essentially:

“Life is suffering and then you die.”

We are trained from a very young age to wear gray glasses

and see the world through the lens of failure and pain.

We get extra points

when we find more problems.

Focusing on the good things in life

and assuming the best outcome will sound as dangerous

as “not facing reality.”

People are biased towards optimism and happiness.

Pioneer Leo Buscaglia,

who teaches a college class

and wrote the best-selling book on love,

says people accuse him of being too naive”

when he enthusiastically declared that the world was beautiful.

“They’ll think I’m crazy when I say ‘Hello’

and ‘Have a nice day’ to people,” he said.

On the day my flight was cancelled,

I said to the passengers

: ‘Great, let’s stay together.

We’re going to have a big party.

‘ They ran away from me like I had the plague.

They are too busy being angry to have a good time.”

Naturally, the media considers it their duty

to deliver touching headlines.

Reporters are rewarded

for finding disaster,

deepening suffering and telling us about ugliness.

Even therapists,

who are supposed to brighten up our lives,

encourage us to dig up the past.

They pat us on the back for realizing where we are stuck,

for noticing our suffering.

If we want to live our lives the way we want to,

we simply have

to stop focusing on what’s wrong.

Especially when there is so much beauty

and love in the world.

Is one person who blew up a building more real

or believable than hundreds of people

who spent 24 hours digging through the rubble?

Are the “needs to improve” marks on your job evaluation more accurate

than the “doing well” areas of your work?

Why do we insist on looking at the negatives?

We are so used to living in the

“Life is suffering” model that we never thought

there could be another reality,

a happy reality.

We live in a context of pain,

loneliness and fear.

We are so immersed in our suffering

that the concept of life as a joyful adventure

seems unnatural or impossible.

Of course we can believe that happy events will happen.

In fact, we expect things like holidays,

birthdays,

and holidays.

But to always believe that happiness is possible

is quite a requirement for most of us.

But remember that’s what we’re trying to do here.

Require.

Become greater.

In fact, the “Life is full of suffering” model is just a bad habit,

a rut we’ve been following

since our parents first asked us to “act our age.”

Seeking suffering is just an irresponsible way

of looking at the world.

I don’t mean that negative events won’t happen.

Life is full of challenges.

That is what makes it so rich.

But we always have the choice whether

to look at our situation

from a possible perspective

or with an “Oh, so what.”

Consider Victor Frankl,

an Austrian psychiatrist.

He was thrown into a Jewish prison camp at the best time of his life.

His parents, brother

and beloved wife were all killed at the hands of the Nazis.

Except for his sister,

he lost all relatives.

In addition, he suffered near-daily torture

and countless humiliations,

not knowing whether today

or tomorrow he would be sent to the furnaces

or spared his life so he could shovel his ashes.

who just got into the furnace.

One day, while naked and alone in his filthy room,

he suddenly thought:

No matter what the Nazis did to him,

they couldn’t take away his human freedom.

This is a direct quote from his book,

Man’s Search for Meaning:

“Everything can be taken away from man but one thing:

the ability to choose an attitude in any situation,

to choose my way of life.”

You have the right to choose!

Mozart is a surprising example of someone

who Participated in spite of the circumstances.

For most of his life, he was penniless,

unemployed, and sick.

His young children starved to death.

However, despite these problems,

he still chose to live a happy life,

continuing to compose beautiful melodies.

During his seven years in captivity in North Vietnam,

Captain Gerald Coffee,

who wrote a book called More than Surviving,

maintained his stance on Dare to Show.

Instead of focusing on what he doesn’t have

(and he really doesn’t),

he takes responsibility for his own pleasure,

even creating his own entertainment.

He sang every song he knew,

bringing back the memories associated with each song.

He practiced as a naturalist by studying rats,

cockroaches, ants, and flies.

Dare to express ourselves is an attitude that we can develop.

By living with gratitude,

approaching life with a sense of adventure,

we can discover

and cultivate a sense of well-being about being alive.

It all depends on where you shine your light.

********************

Please say yes

People like to count their troubles

but don’t count their joys. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Before entering a TB patient’s room,

visitors must cover their entire body.

They are required to wear surgical gloves and masks.

None of us object to this seemingly overly careful behavior.

Either way, we don’t want to get sick with TB.

It is a very contagious disease.

Why don’t we take extra care

to avoid getting infected?

Yes, we never protect ourselves from the bad news we see on television,

but the horrible article we read in the press.

I would be surprised if what you see on the evening news is

what you encounter in your own neighborhood.

The news presented by the media badly distorts reality.

And unfortunately the picture of “Ugly America”

​​is as contagious and harmful as the TB germ.

Poet and writer Cloud Angelou has called this negative poison.

She is very vigilant in protecting herself

from negative conversations.

If someone said something negative about her house,

she would ask that person to leave.

If she hears a “malicious comment” out of the world,

she will “get out of there,”

and she doesn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.

“If you allow it (negativity) to enter your home,

your mind and your life,

it will control you,”

she says.

So when rude or cruel words are uttered,

I will say,

“Get out of my house now.”

Negative words climb the walls,

cling to the furniture in the house

and soon they will appear on my skin.”

She liked what Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians.

They wrote to him to complain about older men pursuing young women,

about church members refusing to pay offerings.

He wrote back and said:

“If there is nothing good to report,

talk about it.

One of my favorite stories is about a guy

who went to his therapist to complain about his wife.

He said, “Doctor, I don’t care what to do.

I want my rotten wife to suffer.

I will leave her within six months

but before that I will do everything

I can to make her suffer.

What should I do?”

The therapist said,

“Oh so easy, every night for the next six months tell her she’s beautiful.

Praise her talent.

Tell her how much you love her.

When he left her after six months,

she was devastated.

It will make it difficult for her to continue living.”

Six months later,

the therapist reunited

with a former client at a party.

The doctor tapped him lightly on the shoulder:

“Hey buddy, nice to meet you.

Did you get rid of that rotten wife yet?”

The customer was offended and said,

Sorry.

My wife is very beautiful.

She is the most amazing

and talented woman in the world.

You must be mistaken for someone else.”

Your thinking is amazing.

There is no thought that goes unnoticed by the universe.

No matter what you think or feel,

the great cosmic energy stands up and says, “I support.”

Why shine your lights in dark corners?

Why focus on the negative?

Of course bad things happen,

but there are good things too.

The Course on Miracles says

that there is no such thing as idle thinking.

Our thoughts about ourselves,

the world,

and our relationships make up our reality.

In a landmark physics experiment,

researchers hypothesized that curved light waves found curved light waves.

And what about researchers

who think light waves are straight like Billy Graham’s?

Can you guess?

Billy Graham straight light waves have been found.

So if you really want to know what you think,

look around your world.

Who needs a psychic or a psychologist

to dredge up the unburied subconscious?

Everything is fine.

If you have unusual relationships,

always have financial difficulties

or a world full of scornful salespeople,

that’s what you take the time to think about.

Actually, think comes first.

Change your mindset and focus and you will literally be able

to change your world.

A friend of mine who lamented her dating history decided

to implement what she calls “my wacky thinking principle.”

She started thinking about how the phone would ring.

She spends 15 minutes a day thinking about male voices saying,

“Hello” or “What are you doing this Friday night?”

Within a week of testing.

Suddenly both her ex-husband

and her ex-boyfriend called her.

By the second week,

when she started receiving pornographic phone calls,

she felt she had gone a little too far,

but she was convinced.

Thoughts create our reality.

It sounds unbelievable at first.

I mean how can I think of a passionate relationship

when my husband spends all his time watching football,

drinking beer and playing golf?

Refuse to think about anger

because you will only feel more angry.

Think about the good times you had in the past.

Or fantasize about the wonderful things you will have in the future.

Norman Vincent Peale once told the story

of a woman whose husband wanted a divorce.

Needless to say,

the woman feels a little uncomfortable about the realities of her life

– especially when her beloved husband doesn’t come home

from work anymore.

But instead of believing in “negativity”,

she decided to try a small experiment.

Every night, she would sit next

to her husband’s chair in front of the fireplace,

imagining her husband was there telling her stories about work,

about childhood

– like when the two were still “in love”.

At dinner, she still sets the plate

for her husband

(even though her husband is not there)

and continues to think positive,

loving thoughts.

And when she finally looked up,

her husband was there.

Her beloved husband has returned

and loves her as much as before.

The phrase humm ba la shaki

– you know,

the phrase magicians use to pull a rabbit out of a hat

– is actually an Aramaic phrase that when translated means:

“I will created while speaking.”

From now on, remember that everything you say

and think works miracles.

Choose to think about great things,

beautiful,

noble and true things

********************

People who live the life they want. —Patch Adams

Smile to get well

Wearing a red rubber clown nose everywhere has changed my life. — Patch Adams

One of my mentors was Patch Adams,

whose life was made into a film starring Robin Williams in 1998.

Patch not only turned the medical profession upside down,

but at the Gesundheit Institute,

his innovative medical center in West Virginia,

he took the most expensive service in the US,

medical care,

and provided it for free.

Patch calls himself a student of the school of life, a happy life.

He spent most of his adult life developing a philosophy of happiness,

its importance, and how to create happiness.

But it wasn’t like that before.

In fact, after just two weeks in a mental hospital,

he found his calling.

He was born into a military family,

moving to a new school every few years,

a new country.

At the age of 16, his father died suddenly,

leaving him in a state of complete depression.

His mother moved the family back to suburban Virginia,

where he relied on his uncle,

a lawyer

and independent thinker in a society full of religious believers.

At school, he turned grief into rage,

writing scathing commentary on isolation,

war, and religious hypocrisy.

He also wrote many silly long poems.

He joined jazz clubs,

went to cafes and played beer.

Towards the end of his senior year at school,

Patch developed an ulcer.

The illness wasn’t too severe,

but the next year,

when he was in his freshman year of college,

the uncle he considered his father committed suicide

and Patch’s girlfriend left him.

He dropped out of school and became obsessed with suicide.

Every day, he went to the cliff near the school

and wrote a powerful poem

to his girlfriend who had broken up.

He composed many touching lyrical poems,

find the most flattering words to convince his girlfriend

to realize her mistake and come back to him.

“I would have jumped off the cliff

when I finished my poem,”

Patch said,

“thankfully I was too wordy.”

Finally, after unsuccessfully persuading his girlfriend Donna,

he trudged nearly 10km in the snow to his mother’s door.

He told his mother,

“I am trying to commit suicide.

I need to go to a mental hospital.”

Two weeks in a locked cell in Fairfax,

Virginia was a turning point in his life.

But according to him, the people helping him are not the doctors

but friends and family and most importantly Rudy, his roommate.

Rudy is an incurable case.

He had three wives, 15 jobs,

and he told Patch long stories about his infinite loneliness

For the first time in his life Patch felt empathy for others.

In fact, Patch realized what he called “a great personal truth.”

“Happiness is a deliberate decision,” he said.

I have to open myself up to love.”

He devoted himself to learning everything he could about love,

happiness,

friendship,

and developing a life full of joy.

He read many great literary works.

He devoured every work he could find

by Nikos Kazantzakis,

Jean-Paul Sartre,

Plato,

Nietzsche,

Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson,

and many other great writers.

But according to him,

his best reference books are

from contact with people around.

He searches for happy families

and learns

how they foster joy and happiness.

He tries to be friendly by creating to-do tasks for himself

– like calling 50 numbers in his phone book,

see how long he can keep them talking on the phone.

He took the elevator to see how many floors it took

before he got the people in the elevator

to introduce each other and sing.

Once he went into a bar and refused to leave

until he heard the story from the doorman.

Not long after leaving the hospital,

he decided to pursue a career in medicine.

Because he was in a mental hospital,

the admissions officers treatment delayed his admission

for nine months

so that he could “completely control his emotions.”

In the meantime, he decided to apply his newfound happiness theories.

He found a job in the mailroom at the Maritime Federal Trust,

a less-than-optimistic workspace.

Can you turn your clerical work into a memorable experience?

He and his friend,

Louis Fulwiler,

decided to turn boring, boring work into an event.

They drive to work with kid’s pilot helmets

and noise generators.

When people asked for the files,

they sang in a Gregorian voice:

“Which file-oh?”

“Nurtured by love and fun,” he said.

I am like a flower in full bloom.

I defeated all the demons inside of me

and became the person I am today.

My confidence, my love of wisdom,

and my desire to change the world stemmed

from the brief period of time,

from late 1963 until the fall of 1964,

when I was lifted out of despair and reborn.”

********************

People who live the life they want. — Hobart Brown

Pursue your happiness

One of the things I learned.

Never limit yourself,

in the race as in life.

You may not win any team or any race

but every event brills glory. — Hobart Brown

Hobart Brown, a metal sculptor,

was nominated for the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize.

Why? He turned his profession into happiness.

And as he put it,

by “following my heart,

doing the things

that seemed the most enjoyable at the time,

and not doing the unpleasant things,

I think I lived a rewarding life.”

Right. Not only has this quirky artist put Ferndale,

California, his hometown for 39 years, on the map,

but his invention

and race of dynamic sculpture have inspired millions

to stop taking life for granted too serious,

as Hobart puts it:

“It seems to solve the problem of how to have fun as an adult.”

When Hobart moved to Ferndale in 1962,

this small community of 2,500 residents was almost a ghost town.

Victorian homes are very cheap

and city chiefs are considering demolishing them

and replacing them with more modern structures.

There are major disagreements between the farmers

who have lived there since the late 18th century

and the artists

who are turning cheap Victorian architecture into vibrant studios.

At that time a bar had a sign that read,

“Hippie hair, $5.” Hobart’s passionate brain eventually turned

the Arcata World Championship into the Ferndale Dynamic Sculpture Race,

bringing a quarter of a million people

to the town every Memorial Day weekend,

providing over two million dollars.

-la for the economy and really reconciled the disagreement

between farmers and artists.

Furthermore, the dynamic sculpting race has spread to 11 states,

Poland and Austria, bringing laughter

and joy to both the sculptor

and the cheering audience.

In short, moving sculptures are works of art that can be moved.

The works are diverse in shape,

from giant bananas,

a 20-ton dinosaur,

a flying wheelchair to a 23-meter-long iguana that people can pull and push.

They are made from broken bicycle parts,

discarded lawn mower gears, sewage tanks, old bathtubs,

lawn trimmers and just about anything the inventor can come up with.

Each machine is a testament

not only to childish imagination

and technical intelligence,

but also to artistic ingenuity,

friendship and even madness.

The race, a quirky endurance contest on roads,

sands,

lawns,

the River Eel and Humboldt Bay,

began near Arcata at the noon whistle

and finished 61 kilometers on Ferndale’s Main Street.

Contestants climb on dunes,

wade in swamps

and with luck they can travel at a speed of 19km a day.

“It’s the perfect human test,” says Hobart.

To do something you don’t think is possible.

After all, our joy is based on problems.

They give us goals.

So I designed a race filled with problems.

In short, I designed a disaster.

But I know inside every racer is the desire

to live and conquer that disaster.

Humboldt artists work for months on their moving sculptures.

They spent up to $12,000

and spent about 560 hours.

June Moxon is famous for using her 2m snakeskin pump

to get to work at the Redwood Bootery.

Naturally you would call someone like her a fanatic. Moxon,

her boyfriend Ken Beidleman,

and their Border Collie dog Scratch spent two

and a half years carrying their animated sculpture around the country.

Leaving Ferndale with $200 in their pocket

(along with a $5,000 donation),

the couple traveled 6,456km in the 11m-long

and two-ton dynamic sculpture.

Although their original destination was Kitty Hawk,

North Carolina,

they had a double schedule in Alabama after Ken broke his ankle.

Despite the trauma and the fact that

they have to sleep in a 3m wide trailer behind the sculpture,

travel more than 2.8 km in hills

and depend on the goodwill of the locals,

they both insist. memorable trip of a lifetime.

Surely they will end up in the Museum of Dynamic Sculpture,

Ferndale’s “Celebration Building”

with about 30 retired machines.

Other award-winning specimens can be seen in front gardens,

garages or even in the living rooms of locals.

Duane Flatmo, an avid competitor, says:

“Remember the game of Mouse Trap we played

when we were kids?

It was a childhood fantasy turned into reality.”

Hobart has always lived in his childhood fantasy.

At the age of 25, he began to study metal sculpture.

“I decided to either starve or become an artist,” he said.

He was almost starving to death

or at least he was about to lose his car

when he approached an art collector in Ferndale

and offered to sell the metal sculpture

he had welded the night before.

“The next day the collector came,” he said.

The random sale that not only saved Hobart’s car

but also led to a friendship led Hobart to purchase a sculpture studio,

Hobart Galleries, on Ferndale Main Street.

Hobart’s scandalous race was shown on Good Morning America,

CNN, and Discovery.

The race started in 1969.

One day, Hobart decided to decorate his son’s tricycle.

Before long, the bright red car had a seat for Hobart

and a seat for his son and was nearly two meters tall.

With five wheels (Hobart added two more so it wouldn’t topple over),

it got the name “five-wheeler” and rocked the town.

Jack Mays, neighbor and sculptor, jokes:

“I could do more than that.”

“Play always.” Hobart challenged him to a race on Main Street.

On Mother’s Day in 1969, Hobart

and Mays held their three-building friendly race

in front of hundreds of people.

Unfortunately, both cars broke down

before reaching the finish line.

Instead, another competitor finished in the shape

of a giant tortoise laying eggs,

releasing smoke and making an obnoxious mating sound.

Since then the race has been held once a year.

Like Hobart, the prize is also crazy.

The Golden Dinosaur Award

(first machine that broke after the starting line)

received a wall-mounted plastic Godzila.

The Golden Flipper Award (best machine to reach Humboldt Bay)

received a yellow painted flipper.

The grand final prize (this is the highest combined score of speed,

engineering and art) was a check for $14.5.

The most coveted award is the Mediocre Award

(for a dead center moving sculpture),

which is usually a 1972 Vega hatchback

(with new windshield wipers)

or a bus pass round trip to Lawton, Oklahoma,

birthplace of Hobart Brown.

The rules in the contest are also a reminder that life is for fun.

Rule 1.0, for example, states that “assistance from water,

sun,

wind,

gravity

and friendly aliens is allowed

if presented to the jury first.”

Regulation 9.01,

also known as the mother’s rule,

states that if a candidate is pregnant and about to give birth,

a reasonable period of time off (about an hour) will be granted without penalty.

However, the contestant must return

with a photo of the newborn baby

to use for advertising purposes.

And Regulation 10.0 of the sculptural race can be summed up about the race and

why Hobart was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize:

“All sculptors,

pilots,

crew,

spectators,

law enforcement officers

and even innocent passersby must all strive

to have fun because their madness keeps us in good spirits strong.”

Hobart, who just turned 67, said:

“So I have to ask myself:

‘Have I wasted my life and time having fun?’

Now I can say that I really don’t think so. ”

Hobart, I don’t think so either.

But, but…

I don’t care what the reason is,

you are the only one

who can decide whether your glass is half full or half empty.

Childish, intoxicating pleasures are not something you need

to give up when you grow up.

One of the best ways to help your fellow citizens is

to find ways to enjoy yourself

and make others understand that enjoying yourself is a good thing.

Make a promise today to approach your life vividly.

Decide that you will only look for the good

and focus on the beautiful.

When you decide to take the happiness perspective,

boredom turns into exploration.

Canceled flights turn into parties.

Queuing becomes a good opportunity to meet new people.

Vacuuming the floor will be a ballet performance.

And of course a rainy day will be the reason

to organize an indoor picnic with five cheeses.

Implement this revolutionary change of opinion now.

Your joy of living will be contagious.

You’ll probably be on the news at six o’clock.

**************

3 big questions

If you haven’t made some people angry,

raised some eyebrows,

you haven’t lived great enough. — Erin Brockovich

Last year we spent 40 billion on weight loss products,

98% of which didn’t work at all.

With $40 billion,

we can provide one million dollars a day

for a cause for good over the next 85 years.

Perhaps instead of looking

for the next weight loss regimen,

we should ask the question:

1.What makes me want to dance on the table?

2.I have a headache because of what?

3. How can I make my day surprise, fun and crazy?

Soul training camp

Singing practice

What are the best and worst things in your life

and when will you deal with whispering

or screaming them. — Ray Bradbury

********************

Exercise: Each day for the next seven days learn and sing a song.

Once you’ve sung well,

find someone (maybe your family?) to sing with you.

At this point in your adult life,

maybe you’d rather cut your hand in the bathtub

than sing in front of a crowd.

Maybe in the shower,

but to you, musical ability is like the legendary turtle:

it left you in the sand of the mallow years ago.

Furthermore, what does singing have to do with it?

That’s what people who lived

before the 90s of the 16th century

thought about reading and writing.

Back then, the idea

that everyone should be able

to read and write was absurd.

That’s something only the elite do.

Singing, especially with other people,

has nothing to do with asserting your power

and making use of who you are.

Singing simply expands who you are.

David Darling, former cellist in the group

Musical Paul Winter Consort says:

“Music is simply the creation of happy tunes

that celebrate movement and dance.

It’s part of a life that honors ritual.”

We cut our favorite part of singing just like many other parts.

Our well-meaning teachers say our mid C is out of tune

and our tone doesn’t match the quartet.

Again, we cut out that part.

Singing is a way of regaining our senses.

It’s a way to connect with the parts we’ve lost.

Music speaks to all hearts and enriches our lives.

In a way, it is the universal language.

When we sing together,

we bind our broken souls together.

If every family starts their day with singing,

that family will contribute the most to society.

Item – Re – Mi

Music is a great remedy for all ills in society,

perhaps even better than St. John’s Wort.

Here are just a few examples of songs you might want

to add to your repertoire:

“I like to laugh.” Remember

when Mary Poppins brought two young sheep to tea with Ed Wynn?

“The world is wonderful.”

How can you not laugh

when you hear Louie Armstrong’s deep bass singing this song?

“Boom, Boom, crazy isn’t that great.”

It reminds us that being stupid is also something to strive for.

“76 Trombones.”

You can’t help but march while singing this song.

“The magic dragon.”

You can’t go to kindergarten without knowing this lesson.

“Rubber tree.”

Songs about hoping and pursuing them.

Speak out for kindness

In general, the higher the reward,

the greater the risk.

Because they always see opportunities,

rich people are often willing to take risks.

Rich people believe that even if the worst happens,

they can always make money. – T. Harv Eker

********************

Chapter 9:  Loving Much: Perspectives on the Soul

Deceiving yourself to not love is the worst kind of deception.

It is a permanent loss that cannot be shared,

no matter how long it takes. — Søren Kierkegaard

Therapists say that until we really get rid of the dark,

dark places in our subconscious,

we won’t be able to be satisfied with ourselves.

They say a person who is truly satisfied

with himself must find out all the hidden secrets

that make him or she feel unworthy,

must find out all the past atrocities committed by his parents.

But what I want to know is,

when we go down there searching with flashlights,

why don’t we search our own souls?

We spend 20 years unearthing the darkness

when right under the next rock lies a world

of wonder and brilliance.

Yes, I am talking about our spirituality,

the transcendent force that lies at the heart of who we are.

The light that lies under the next rock is the most powerful force in the universe.

It’s Spider-Man, Superman and bodyguard Jesse Ventura gathered into one.

Love is the power of the universe,

the condition that allows us to dream of bigger playing fields.

Is the voice that constantly whispers,

“You can do more.”

Most of us tend to ignore that voice.

Instead we listen to the voice whispering, “That’s all.”

We are so busy with trivial things

that we forget the important things.

As long as we remain materialistic,

believing that it is important

to look good and not be nice,

we will only be able to live small lives.

When we leave love standing outside the cold

and telling ourselves that facelifts,

Land Cruisers and titles career is our life purpose

then we have missed the whole point.

We are souls with no other purpose of existence

but to carry the love of making the world complete.

That’s all we have to do. And we can do it.

The main problem is that we assume that love only exists on Valentine’s cards.

Or in romantic movies.

That’s right, it’s the right dialogue for a couple.

But not for the government and the people.

Appropriate love in the bedroom.

But, for God’s sake,

leave it outside the boardroom.

Leo Buscaglia,

who teaches a love class at the University of Southern California,

says he and his students look through a lot of books on psychology,

sociology and anthropology and find it hard

to believe they find only one reference.

The only reference to love.

Yet it is still something we all need,

crave and spend hours looking for.

Dr. Griffith Banning, in a survey of 800 Canadian children,

found that the absence of love in children’s lives causes more harm than illness

and other goodwill combined.

In a similar study,

an American psychologist studied two groups of twelve orphans.

The first group was in an orphanage

and received little love.

The second group was taken daily to a center

where they were cared for

and loved by a retarded teenage girl.

After two years of studying both groups,

the psychologist found that all the children in group 1,

if not dead, either go to a center

for the mentally retarded or retarded.

Children in the other group,

who receive love every day,

know how to exercise on their own,

graduate from high school

and have happy marriages.

Don’t you think something

as important as this should be in our core curriculum?

Don’t you think something

as big as this should be highlighted every day in schools,

businesses, and the US Congress?

When will we invite love back from exile?

People talk about the real world as

if it makes more sense than the spiritual world.

But dare I say that most of our problems come

from underestimating the practical importance,

the great power of love.

One day I went to a party for pregnant women.

Everyone was in awe of the cute little boots and polka dot diapers.

Here a mother-to-be is about

to set foot in the biggest new frontier of her life

and all we can do is treat her with “materials.”

There’s nothing wrong with material things

but why don’t we throw a party for expectant mothers

where we share the “secrets of love”,

the profound mysteries we learn about falling in love children?

The same should be done with the party for the soon-to-be-married.

Sure, the newlyweds will need a waffle maker or a double plate,

but don’t they need our warm

and compassionate reminder of what love really means?

That love is something you nurture by thinking and acting.

Love is a big piece of cheese.

That is who we really are.

That is why we are here.

And if we want to heal the world,

we must improve our 9th Love Potion.

We must realize that love is the solution

to every problem we face,

both the problems in our own lives and the problems

that exist on a global scale.

And if you think love is a meaningless exercise,

check this out:

The Mathematical Heart Institute has done many studies proving

that just five minutes of thinking

about loving thoughts can increase IGA levels,

a type of antibodies help boost the immune system,

for up to six hours.

Finding love is a lifestyle choice.

Of course you can keep filling your mind

with nonsense agents

of a busy world with nonsense.

But you can also decide

to uncover the bottomless mystery of your soul.

You can tap into a hidden urge

that can work wonders and repair defects.

Above all, that is the only thing that matters.

People who live the life they want. — Kenny Loggins

Finding love in the right place

We all want to find love.

Everything else is just killing time. — Kenny Loggins

Kenny and Julia Loggins wrote a book about Big Love.

The book The Unthinkable Life comes with a music CD

and chronicles the first seven years of their ongoing love story.

Together, they are defying many of the myths we believe about love.

That love doesn’t last.

That love will become boring.

By committing themselves to what they call a “conscious relationship,”

they are rewriting the “rules” of marriage.

They are proving that Big Love is not only possible,

but can also be a path to healing.

They met while married to someone else.

Kenny was married to Eva at the time

and Julia was married to an older man

who helped her overcome many childhood health problems.

For six years,

they were just friends.

He came to her for nutrition

and colon treatment and liked how she honestly dealt

with some of the problems he was having.

He’s completely open with Julia,

revealing his true nature

– even the scary parts

– because they don’t get a chance to make love.

Sometimes they feel attracted to each other,

but as Julia reminds Kenny, “Man,

there’s going to be too many people in bed.”

Eventually, after both realized

that their first marriage was over,

they started dating.

Immediately they felt a strong bond.

Friends advised them to calm down,

that it was too early to start a new relationship,

advised them to go on a date.

In other words,

turn your back on love.

There was a time when they listened.

Kenny tells her that he needs two months.

But when he began

to listen to his heart,

truly appreciate his intelligence,

he began to believe in the power of love.

He called Julia after ten days

and asked to see her.

They have been together ever since.

It is true that they went through many of the crazy times

that are common in relationships

– jealousy,

insecurities,

and fear.

But through honesty

and commitment to the greater truth of love,

they can overcome old ruts.

The trails scream to us,

“If you love me so much,

you’re crazy.

If you love me then you’re probably stupid,

blind,

stubborn,

sly,

or unworthy of me.”

When they get married,

they choose a ritual that symbolizes their desire

to “be loved a lot,

different from ordinary life.”

They want the ritual to celebrate freedom

from the constraints of society

and belief systems that:

“Love is not real.”

When he gave her the ring,

she kissed it and threw it into the river.

She said:

“With this ring, I set you free.

You are free to follow your heart, your soul.”

He took the Bavarian crystal,

the first gift she had given him,

and buried it in the ground.

“With this crystal,

I return you to the earth,

to the sky,

and to the Soul that I love and believe in.”

They also write vows that allow them

to articulate their wildest dreams

and deepest desires for their life together

and for each other’s growth and healing.

“Our promise to each other is

to pursue the ‘essence’ of our lives,

our interests and our passions,” they said.

They leave the crystal in the sacred place

where they celebrate their wedding in the hope that one day,

when someone is ready to accept the power of unconditional love,

they will pick it up.

He or she is willing to believe that “love is real,” that love can heal,

and that love has the power to make us all strong.

********************

People who live the life they want. — Jody Swarbrick

Raise 28 kids and keep going

If I learn anything from my kids and life it is…

we are all possible to achieve great things. — Jody Swarbrick

When people asked Jod Swarbrick from Cedar Falls,

Iowa how many children she had,

she replied,

“Wait a minute.

I have to count.”

And the fact that she needed the computer.

The family that is more important

to her life includes 28 children,

of which 27 are adopted

and 17 still live at home.

The ages of the children are from 9 to 31.

But what’s more surprising is that this 49-year-old woman is single mother

and 27 of her 28 children all have special needs.

That means they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,

muscular dystrophy,

congenital blindness

or hydrocephalus.

They come from Korea,

South America or from mothers

who smoke in American cities.

There was a time

when Judy didn’t know where to get the money.

“But on that journey,

my family gained strength,

faith and courage,” Jody said.

We face trials,

cry together,

but most importantly,

we laugh together,

learn and grow together.”

In other words,

Jody and her wonderful family know how to Love Much.

Many of her adopted children are children

that no one wants to adopt.

Even their biological parents.

Even social service agencies

who don’t know what to do with children

with multiple personalities or abuse.

Joddy entered where the others said,

“My God, that was a disaster.”

and said, “Here’s what I can do.”

For example, Tyler came to Jody when he was 7 years old.

The boy is not only disabled and deaf,

but also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He is now 20 years old

and works at a grocery store.

Jenna, Jody’s oldest child, came

from Korea when she was 12 years old.

She doesn’t know a word of English

and because she has polio she can only walk with crutches.

Jenny went to college,

became the first disabled resident’s assistant,

graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology,

and became the first disabled nursing student at the college of her choice.

Today she works at the rehab center of a large hospital,

inspiring others about what is possible.

Sometimes the challenge for Jody revolves around language barriers.

Luke and Andy, twins from Korea,

one day ran home from school

so fast that they couldn’t breathe.

They shouted: “Mom, take the basket.

Mom, take the basket.

We have pets.

Hurry up mom.

As she stood there,

trying to decipher their limited English,

Andy began to say aloud,

“Mom, the teacher said it’s going

to rain dogs and cats tonight.

but she misinterpreted it as “rain of dogs and cats”).

We will have pets.

Isn’t that right, mom?”

Soon she said,

“We bought a dog.”

20 years ago,

when Jody first adopted Tori from Korea,

she was still married.

She is the full-time mother of Eric,

her biological child,

now 31 years old.

If she knew that one day her husband would leave her

and she would be a single mother and raise so many children,

she might stop and say,

“Wow, this is a bit too much for me.”

By accepting a little each day,

forgetting about yesterday,

and not worrying too much about tomorrow,

she can not only feed Teri,

who today,

instead of being as healthy as Jody promises, has impetigo,

and convulsions, hospitalization for bronchitis,

pneumonia and asthma

— but also Tori’s 27 siblings.

“It’s not easy and I certainly don’t have a ‘typical’ life,” says Jody.

But typical is boring!”

Jody’s original dream was to become a pediatrician.

She grew up in Cedar Falls, babysitting,

volunteering as a nurse at a local hospital,

working as an assistant teacher

for special children.

By the time she was in high school,

she knew what she wanted to do.

She went to the school counselor and announced,

“I want to be a pediatrician.”

The counselor looked at her humorously and said,

“Men are doctors.

Women are nurses.”

So she got married and became a mother.

Today she is challenging that school counselor,

choosing a double degree in psychology and human services.

Then she plans to go to graduate school.

In the meantime,

she works as an online instructor for the About.com website

for parents of children with special needs.

Working from home between 17 laundry loads a day,

Swarbrick hosts websites,

chats,

provides forums,

writes articles,

and ensures that people get the information they need.

Her children also often offer advice,

helping her to give hope to other parents

who also have children with disabilities in the home.

“A lot of times I frankly say…tell me what my kids can do,

tell me my kids are amazing…

because they are and they will accomplish many important milestones,”

she said important.

Although they may be small compared to society,

they are a parental miracle.”

“Children who are abused

or have special needs often don’t have a childhood,” she said.

Goals are set on what they need to do or can’t do.

In my home,

all children are treated equally,

with disabilities second only to a child’s needs.

The kids are encouraged by me to do silly things,

play and laugh.

Childish pranks are all perfectly fine.

We often believe that children

with special needs take a lot of work,

but that’s not true.

What matters is how you prioritize and plan every day.”

The most important thing, she says,

is learning to appreciate the “little things in life”

— like family dinners and Friday night movies

with popcorn and chocolate chip cookies,

all Family events are all marked on the giant family calendar.

Or as Jody says of Living the life you want:

“We are all limited by our prejudices.

Each of us possesses a God-given gift

– qualities that make us shine.

We often become complacent

because we are unsure of ourselves.

We also walk in the ruts created by society

and when we reach out of the “norm” our motivation

and sanity are called into question.

Our fear of the unknown makes us often want

to stay in our comfort zone because it seems safe.

We have to believe,

we have to have faith even when the results are not quite

so easy to achieve.

We have to go out with that faith and reach for the stars

because they are just a knuckles away from us.”

Love the great idea

When we truly love,

we are taken to a whole new level.

All our worries (worry about what?) are forgotten.

Unfortunately, most of us hear the word love

and immediately think of a white dress,

black suit, and diamond ring.

The tendency to associate love with romance is a blind spot.

There are not only millions of people to love

(forget about finding the One of your dreams)

but also, millions more ideas.

You can become an expert on millions of topics

(such as the French Revolution or the music of Mozart),

you can start millions of searches.

Take Larry Woydziak as an example.

A few years ago,

this fireman from Lawrence,

Kansas decided he wanted to see his state.

But instead of just driving across the state,

he decided to bowl in all 105 counties in the state.

He bought the ball for $1.95 at a thrift store, named it Martha,

and hit the road.

Sounds very simple, doesn’t it?

But with this simple act,

he not only made many new friends,

but also made many people notice the beauty of small towns.

His wife, Connie, takes a picture of Larry

and Martha at each bowling alley

and he even runs a website

and diary called “Larry’s Down Street Life.”

Or take Joe Martori as an example.

The CEO from Sedona,

Arizona collects photos of celebrities named Joe – from Joseph Stalin

to shoeless Joe Jackson

and GI Joe.

Photos of these people named Joe

(such as Joe Kennedy, Joey Buttafuco,

Joe Namath and the little kangaroo named Joey) are on display

at Martori’s restaurant called Joey Bistro.

Anyone who can name all of the about 40 people named Joe gets a free meal.

And while it’s not a typical love story,

Martori was delighted with her one-of-a-kind collection

and had an enjoyable time for her clients.

Tony Nave’s great love is cooking.

He turned his passion into a fun cooking show.

For example, on Halloween,

he dressed up as Ozzy Osbourne’s wife

and made recipes with squash;

at Christmas, he dressed up as Bing Crosby with a pipe.

He often opens the show by sitting in a tub full of soap bubbles

with a pan on his head and a ladle in his hand.

The point here is that there are so many ideas

and so many ways to Love Much.

Don’t just sit there waiting for your soulmate.

Be crazy in love.

Love even if it sounds absurd.

Love in every way,

in every shape and in every style.

************************

3 big questions

Life is a precious and beautiful thing.

you can’t just sit back

and watch it go by… you have to rush into it;

you have to immerse yourself in it;

You can’t keep it in the box,

you must taste it;

you must use it.

the more you use it the more you have…

it’s the magic of life! —Kyle Samuel Crichton

Alfred Nobel, the international businessman

who came up with the Nobel Peace Prize,

did so because he began to ask the big questions.

What made him famous

before asking these questions was

that he invented dynamite

and he had no business ethics.

When his brother,

also a famous businessman,

died, the media inadvertently ran Alfred’s obituary.

After reading what people wrote about him,

he was shocked.

“Is this what I want people

to say about me after I die?” he wondered.

Other questions you can think about are:

1.How do I regain my sense of the sacred?

2.What is the highest potential for a relationship

with a spouse or important person in my life?

3.How can I observe the sacredness of today?

Soul training camp

Find your caravan

It’s time for all of us to risk our importance. — Dawna Markova

********************

Exercise: Organize a Watch

and Tell program for family and friends.

Invite people to bring a favorite poem,

a special keepsake,

a treasure they hold,

or a moving true story.

Rumi calls it a caravan

for like-minded seekers.

A group of people

who share the same philosophy,

a desire to save the world.

Do you remember the promise in the monthly Bible?

All you need are “ten good people.”

Let’s start with the Watch and Tell program.

Why is it not a normal event?

About once a week,

we should meet up with family,

best friends

and show them the doodle you drew on the back of the bill

or whatever we came up

with while waiting at the laundromat.

Adults still come up with a lot of things.

We just don’t tell anyone.

We don’t think it matters.

Especially when the lawn needs

to be mowed and the silencer needs fixing.

How much closer we would be

if we paused long enough to appreciate each person

in the Watch and Tell circle.

If we listen to each other’s stories,

look at each other’s creations.

We all need a community.

We need more ways to connect with each other.

When you find your tribe,

your ten good people,

put your heads together

and come up with twelve ways to become an angel.

Angel?

Maybe I should explain.

Tasman, my seven-year-old daughter,

loves to play masquerade.

She’ll put on my shoes,

put a fur scarf around her neck,

and pretend to be me.

Other times,

she pretends to be her teacher,

the lion trainer or the great magician Tazini,

who can make water disappear.

Just as children learn

to be adults by pretending,

we can learn about love

by pretending to be angels.

Don’t be surprised if you finally see your wings.

Soul party

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the moments that amaze us.

Are you planning a party?

A pre-wedding party or a party for women about to give birth?

Or organize a soul party

where everyone involved has a chance to spread the love.

Without passive income,

you can never be financially free. – T. Harv Eker

*************************

SUMMARY

There is nothing more wasteful than living an ordinary life.

There is nothing more tragic than a person

who has lost his charisma. — Mark Eberra

You hear voices.

The voice kept whispering,

“You can have more than that.”

The voice beckons:

“Make your life extraordinary.”

Why do you prick your ears

when you hear about an artist,

activist or anyone doing a GREAT thing,

something truly unique?

You start to wonder.

Or you feel a little disgruntled.

It’s not because you’re not grateful for what you have,

like your job,

your car,

or your credit card,

but because you’re constantly asking yourself,

“What could be more?”

That’s what Buckminster Fuller wondered seventy-four years ago

when he decided to do a little experiment.

He decided to experiment

with his own life to see what an unknown,

penniless individual could do on behalf of humanity.

Calling himself White Mouse B,

he devoted himself to living the life he wanted.

At the time of the experiment,

he was only 32 years old.

He is nobody.

Bankrupt and unemployed,

he has a wife and a newborn baby to raise.

His first child,

the sister of a newborn baby,

had just died.

He drank alcohol all day.

His life prospects are not very bright.

But he decided to forget the past,

give up negative thoughts.

He wanted to know:

“What can one person do to change the world?”

For the next 56 years,

he devoted himself to this unique experiment.

He risked his life,

he asked himself:

“What if?

Not only did he become a great architect,

inventor,

writer and leader,

but from 1927

when he started experimenting

until his death in 1983,

he wrote 28 books, received 44 honors.

participated,

won 25 patents in the US

and really changed the way people see themselves.

That’s what I hope the book Live Life

as You Want to have done for you.

I hope it has changed the way you see yourself.

I hope it inspires you to experiment

with your own life asking,

“Who can I be?”

We all want to have a meaningful life.

We all want an extraordinary life,

an exciting life,

a life that makes others want to stand up.

I hope now you will go out and be the coolest,

funniest,

most magical,

most beautiful

and gentle person you can be.

To be a winner in the financial game,

your goal should be

to earn enough passive income to cover your desired lifestyle. – T. Harv Eker