Posted on Leave a comment

A Me-ist to a We-ist: How We Can Change the World One Person at a Time 

Welcome to 2024 and I hope that everyone of my readers and subscribers have a healthy and prosperous 2024. This year, I’m going to do things differently than the past. If you are aware of this fact, I’ve authored over 20 books that are on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. My focus is self-help, motivational books that aspire readers to a higher level of consciousness, and hence, healthier, happier and more spiritual lives.

This month, I’ll feature “”A Me-ist to a We-ist: How We Can Change the World One Person at a Time “(2019). I’m especially proud of my work since the advice given is not just my opinion but is backed up by over 100 references from experts, scientists, and futurists.

How can my words help you in your life’s journey?

One reader included an unsolicited review about how the words affected his personal life: “A We-ist is concerned about things like peace, forgiveness, love, compassion, gratitude, humility, and spirituality. As we work on being a better person, this will naturally have an affect on the people around us. That’s how it compounds one person at a time. I have always been into continued learning and personal development. There are parts of the book that I particularly found to be motivating and inspirational.” 

Let’s get started. If you want to purchase a paper or digital copy of We-ist, travel over to Amazon and place your order.

Chapter One

Don’t change the world, change your world

I’m not asking, pleading or demanding that you change all of humanity…that is too much responsibility for any man or woman to carry upon their shoulders. The weight would be thoroughly crushing, depressing, and debilitating. All I’m asking you to do is change the world within you, and as you change the world within you, you change the world around you, and as you change the world around you, you change the world around another person and then around another and then another. Your change cannot be contained. It doesn’t stop…it’s the power of momentum. It’s like a single snowflake that starts at the top of the mountain and as it careens down precipitous slopes, it adheres to other snowflakes and by the time they reach the bottom of the mountain, the unsuspecting valley is changed beyond description. That’s from a single snowflake; imagine what a single person could do if they are focused and commit to consistent action to change the world within them?

In today’s world, we all too often look around us to see loneliness, feel emptiness, speak of insecurity and insignificance. We believe we are onlookers and not participants of the world; we have become fragments of our Self, separated from joy, happiness, and purpose. It’s little wonder then that we turn to material goods where we horde things, and collect things to find what we feel is missing in our life. As you scramble for what you think you need and want to be whole in this life, you lose empathy and compassion for others. We can then justify exploitation and suppression in order to get what we want…our piece of the pie. As it occurs individually, it then spreads out as a pandemic illness throughout our world.    

However, life is like a mirror; if you focus upon indifference, you live indifference; if you focus upon oppression, you live oppression; and if you focus upon conflict, you live conflict. In your mind and then in your neighbourhood you have indifference and even malevolence. We need to lose indifference and oppression. As children and teens, we needed to belong, to be reassured, and to be a member of a group that we identified with. As you aged, you lost that need and this created separation without because you created separation within. You don’t need a life-threatening illness or some other disaster to show you that changes have to be made and made in a hurry. Assume a new role in your life…now. It’s time to become a participant again, move past being an onlooker to achieve what you deserve in this life. A life that should be one filled with purpose and meaning and not indifference and oppression.     

How does it start? It starts with the four-letter word we all dream about; the one word that ignites our soul and causes us to sing about it, cry over it, and chase after it for our entire seventy, eighty, or ninety years that we spend upon this planet, it is…LOVE. New babies need love; adolescents need love; geriatrics need love. The famous Armenian spiritual teacher and writer G. I. Gurdjieff (1991) expressed his views to us that “love is the foundation of everything.” Scovel-Shinn (1989), expressed her view by stating that “Loving your neighbor means not to limit your neighbor in word, thought or deed” and “Regard your neighbor as yourself.” In Tao Te Chung (13), we read “Love the world as your own self, then you can truly care for all things.” This is the ‘how’ to change your world and the world of those around you.

However, be mindful of love and its true meaning; it is not something you do, it is not something you say…it is something you are. It is something you are when the world conspires against you; it is something you are when the universe aligns with you; and it is something you are when you shouldn’t be. Love must be as natural as breathing and as the act of breathing is an unconscious reaction that sustains our life, love must be natural and must permeate every one of your trillion plus cells. If a scientist looked under a microscope at your cells to find love, it wouldn’t be possible to discern between the physical and spiritual aspects that make-up your cells. Your cells are love and your love is your cells. There is no separation of the two, they are one, and as one they guide you through life and determine how you act and react to your Self, to other members of our species, and to nature.

The major religions and philosophies of the ancient and modern world espouse the same universal wisdom; it is certainly not luck, fate, or chance that the principle tenet of each institution is clearly based upon, it is love…love for your Creator, love for your Self, love for your brothers and sisters, and nature. In our today’s world, many have little faith in what the religious teachings and their words have to offer us; hence, we assume the words are false; the words are an invention; the words are concocted by man to suppress man. It’s a shame that this feeling runs throughout our modern psyche; for a moment, put aside your disbelief and suspicion about the great ancient books and look at what they are saying to us. The words and stories contain wise words that help us live today as they helped those that lived yesterday. If you are a non-believer, cast religion aside for just a moment and see the message instead…you’ll be surprised how their message can change your life.  

There you have it? Can you see the value for our species’ future by casting aside the Me-ist attitude and adopting a We-ist way of life? I do and my wish is that these few paragraphs help you in your personal journey to good health, financial wealth, and spiritual self.

I’d like to hear your response to the ideas found in “A Me-ist to a We-ist: How We Can Change the World One Person at a Time.”

Posted on Leave a comment

How do we achieve TRUE happiness?

A miraculous study that spanned over 75 years!

Recently, I had the privilege of watching a TED Talk podcast by psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Human Development (https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=8KkKuTCFvzI).

If you haven’t heard, this podcast is about an amazing 75-year study that tracks the lives of hundreds of men in America…yes, over seven decades! It’s a remarkable achievement. Think about the logistics involved in such a long-term research project.

This study survived over time and the results appear to resonate with many people…there are over 1.4 million views on You Tube in just a few short weeks and increasing daily.

When possible, I recommend you set aside 13 minutes of your time to have a listen. The results might surprise you and even change your ideas about life and the goals you hold close to your heart.

How to achieve a ‘good’ life?

Our modern media constantly tells us that we need a more expensive car, a larger home, a brand name watch and purse to be happy in life. More this…more that…more of anything and it seems many of us buy into this idea to achieve our ideal life.

A recent survey of millennials revealed that 80% of the respondents’ main focus in life was to become rich, and 50% reported that they wanted to become famous.

Pryor et al (2007), uncovered that today’s college students believe ‘being well off financially” is more important than “developing a philosophy of life”, this is the reverse of what college students from the 1960’s and 1970’s reported.

In these two examples, it appears that we have moved away from believing that intrinsic goals are more important than extrinsic goals.

What are we doing to ourselves?

Are we happier with more of everything?

Unfortunately, a number of the indicators point that our general level of happiness is decreasing; sadly, over 36,000 Americans commit suicide every year (emoryuniversity.com), and the incidence of diagnosed depression is on the rise (www.psychologytoday.com).

As we push harder for a promotion, more money or recognition, we are simultaneously pushing our happiness aside.

We’ve missed something…our values are turned upside down.

The results of the Harvard Study of Human Development

The Harvard Study did not find that wealth and fame were the most important paths to life-long happiness.

After investigating the lives of hundreds of men for over seven decades, to live a happier, healthier, longer life the researchers found that:

  • social connections are really good for us
  • the quality of your close relationships matter most
  • good relationships protect our bodies (and brains)

Our social connections help us to live a happier, healthier life. It appears that loneliness kills our spirit and our bodies. As we age, those who suffer from loneliness record brain functions that decline earlier than those who are strongly connected.

It seems that the quality of our close relationships is more important to our health and happiness than the quantity. Overall, those who have warm relationships with a few are better off emotionally and physically than those with a higher number of relationships that are not that meaningful.

‘Good’ relationships buffer us from what life can deal us; in other words, when we can count on others around us we are more secure and therefore happier.

Our brains respond positively with the feelings we have from our sense of security, our minds remain sharper and over a longer time when we have someone whose “Got our back.”

Tips to create happiness in your life

Dr. Waldinger concluded his Ted Talk presentation with a few easy to implement tips to turn your life around and create the real happiness that you deserve. Consider the following:

  • experiencing new things as a couple
  • taking long walks in nature
  • having date nights
  • resolving long-standing family feuds

If you follow these four simple yet effective ideas, your body and your brain will thank you for it!

Why do these ideas result in a happier, healthier life?

It’s about the flow of energy; happiness creates a flow of positive energy while feelings of isolation and loneliness results in a flow of negative energy.

Tip Number 1: It’s important to experience new things as a couple. After a while we may feel the routine, the grind of everyday life is stripping us of our happiness.

There are unlimited possibilities if we are opened minded and willing to explore new things. New challenges can create waves of positive energy that end up being shared between two people.

Tip Number 2: We can connect or reconnect with nature by taking long walks in the park or woods near our home. Out in the woods, we are flooded with the positive energy from the trees. How can you not be consumed by euphoric feelings in such a setting?

Tip Number 3: Then there are date nights. Research has shown that it is not our minds but our hearts that are by far the largest energy field in our body. It’s real joy when we feel our hearts share positive energy with someone we love.

In the end, our unique frequencies meet and produce this amazing synchronicity that allows each to be dependent and independent upon each other. It’s exhilarating!

Tip Number 4: If you feud with our siblings or hold grudges for other family members you are keeping yourself in a quagmire of negative energy that can and will result in a variety of physical and psychological aliments.

When we resolve family disagreements or long time misunderstandings we flush the negative energy from our mind and body and welcome the return of positive energy.

Put family feuds behind you. Take action. Do something about it right now, get on the phone or even better go visit in person to overcome the problems that have causing harm to your mind and body.

We are social beings

Ultimately, should we be surprised that relationships have been the main priority of the countless subjects interviewed for over seven decades, after all, we are social beings first and consumers second. According to the research, that is how we should live to have a happier, longer life.

Here’s that link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KkKuTCFvzI

                                               “The good life is built on good relationships.”