Today’s Brilliance from Dr. Ervin Laszlo
You, the young people of today, are the most privileged people who have ever lived on Earth. For the first time in history, one generation—your generation—holds the key to the greatest challenge humans have faced since they became conscious of themselves and the world. It's the challenge of change: timely change. The world your fathers and forefathers have created is no longer sustainable. This means that if it doesn't change, it will break down. It cannot keep going as it is. Financial crisis and climate change are just the most visible of the many untenable conditions in the world. Urban…
Today’s Brilliance from Tony Volpentest
At 15 months old, I pulled myself up and took my first steps in my family's suburban Seattle living room, walking stiff-legged across the carpeted floor. While most parents consider this a milestone of child development, for my parents this simple act was nothing short of miraculous. You see, I was born without hands and feet and I have been proving the experts wrong ever since. First walking unassisted, and eventually doing the unimaginable--becoming a world-class sprinter, winner of four gold medals and nominated to the Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2012. My motto has always been, 'If you…
Staying Focused When Confronted By Adversity
I was born, as they would say today, visually handicapped. That means I've had to adapt my life in countless ways. And I've learned that if you don't adapt, and often adapt quickly, you'll be miserable, filled with self-pity, and not be the person you were meant to be. The key to overcoming physical or psychological challenges is simple, but very hard to learn. If you want to do something, get something, or be something badly enough, you can't let other people or old thinking get in the way of your goals. And you can never give in or give…
Rebirth from Crisis
If today were my last day on Earth I would share with everyone the great truth: Our Crisis is the Birth of a cocreative, coevolving humanity. Something new is arising within us. It is the desire to be more, to do more, to love more. That is the universal process of creation emerging within our hearts, evolving our species, one by one, from separation and fear to unity and cocreativity. Nurture the mysterious flame of the future burning within you! It is the Fire of Life given to you to be a light upon this Earth. Each of us is…
Cranky Feedback
As a professional writer, counselor, and musician, I’ve received all kinds of feedback about my work. Most of the feedback I get is positive and supportive, and that’s part of the reason I continue to do what I do. But some of the feedback is, let’s just say, “cranky.” Cranky feedback is especially interesting to me, because I usually know where it’s coming from, and can see myself in it. I’ll explain. There was a time when I was quite unhappy, generally angry with life. During that period I felt it was my job to enlighten people about what I…
Making the Most of the Hand You’re Dealt
Life has a way of dealing each of us a deck of cards that ranges in numbers and colors. Each and every day we wake up and pull a card and the day has been defined. There are good days and great days and sad days and unhappy days; however there is one thing that is is guaranteed – you have the freedom to accept what you are dealt or you can fold. Over the course of a little more than four years, I had no idea what cards I would be dealt or that I would desperately need to find…
Why Life ISN’T Unfair
Life isn't unfair... it is always fair! Now, I can imagine the tremendous leap of faith that embracing this premise might require. We've all posed the question: "Why me? Why do bad things happen to good people? How can a good God allow such injustices to occur?" None of us is immune to seemingly negative occurrences, but life's events become calamities only if we make the conscious decision to make tragedies out of them. The storms in one's life, while they have the potential of creating incapacitating turbulence in the mind, do not have to. We might just as easily…
5 Lessons for Happiness
Here are a few of the best lessons I can happily share: 1. Life is tough Agreed, life is filled with trials and tribulations. To say one is happy all the time is a lie. To know happiness is available at any time is a truth. Happiness will not wait for us. Happiness will not invite us to the party. We must invite ourselves to say, "yes", diving deeply and happily into life... all of it... the ups, downs, twists and turns of our miraculous journey. Happiness exists in tandem with adversity. Happiness waits in all the nooks and crannies…
The SMART Way to Your Dreams
Life is way too short, so take risks! Danger or risk can mean different things to different people. However, in order for you to achieve and create the life of your dreams and reach your goals you need to take risks! It is when you get out of your comfort zone that you truly live and achieve your goals. So how do you do that? Make a list of goals and dreams you want to accomplish. Then pick your top priority goal or the goal you wish to focus on first and define this goal by using the SMART system.…
5 Choices that Will Change Your Life
We can choose to grow habits of the mind and the heart that will guide us naturally to love and service. We can blossom through presence and good mental habits to awaken our authentic spirit. Love is the common denominator. Love is the universal energy of the universe. The human condition is enduring; adversity will forever ascend. The impact of adversity can be an insidious virus or rich nourishment for our souls. We can choose to use adversity as nourishment to awaken our authentic spirit. Our authentic spirit is our love, which we are, and our service, how we act.…
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What You See is What Will Be
There was a time back, long ago, when knowing each other’s deficits was important. In fact it was critical to our survival. But today we live in a time when our environment can literally make up for any of our shortcomings. We have evolved past the need to link deficiencies with survival. Unfortunately, our instincts have not. Despite overwhelming evidence—the blind man with incredible hearing, the deaf woman highly attuned to body language, the dyslexic student with powerful memorization—society is too accustomed to seeing the world in terms of deficits and exceptions. And so are we. In trying to improve,…
Find Your Motivation, and Find Your Way to Success
After I resigned my military commission as a naval officer because I lost motivation from the Vietnam War, I wondered what I could do for my future to make my life worthwhile. My best high school friend was in town as a civil rights lawyer and asked if I wanted to watch him argue a case for Cesar Chavez’s fledgling union against wine growers’ attorneys. His arguments demolished the private property claims of the ten slick business attorneys for the wine industry who tried to paint the farm workers as law-breaking scum. I was convinced I could never do anything so…
How To Use The Mantra, “Just This Much”
If you watch your mind, you will see that it goes into the past or future all day long. It especially loves to go into the future and when it really gets activated, it moves from a whole different place. It will convince you that that you can’t do it right, or you can’t do it at all, or something bad is going to happen, and the thoughts go on and on. These thoughts are just not true because we don’t know what is going to happen. All we have is this present moment, but you can begin to see…
You Can’t Do It Alone: The Power of Community
It is only in the most recent history that people subscribe to the ideal of "independence," of doing it on your own, of not needing anybody to support you. And in concept, this may be a good idea but only as a concept. We have millions of years of a genetic heritage that argues for community and we have maybe 75 to 100 years that argues for independence. Human beings have survived out of their interdependence, not their independence. When infants are born they are completely helpless and would surely perish if not for the love and care given by…
Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms
It is far too easy to get caught up in all the noise, chatter and distractions that come our way. Maintaining focus in the chaos is often a mighty challenge. In times of our greatest crises the power of doubt, fear, stress and anxiety has enormous force. As this adversity grips us, something as simple as finding peace and maintaining confidence can be incredibly difficult. As I lived through the early experiences of my youngest son's addiction, I found myself completely distracted by his every move, thought, action, and decision. I became uncontrollably focused on saving him from his illness…
Are Those Heavy Burdens Actually A Gift?
Nature always teaches us lessons, if we just pay attention. Today, my husband and I went for a snowshoe hike by our home in Glacier National Park, with Koda (our 6 year old Samoyed). The snow was deep and beautiful. The temperature was just above freezing and unfortunately, instead of the forecast for several inches of new snow gently falling, it was lightly raining. The heavy snowpack from the last week combined with the wet, falling rain, increased the burden being placed on the trees, weighing them down with large piles of heavy, wet snow. Some of them were bent…