New website!

I'd like to let you know about my new website www.TowardsPersonalEmpowerment.com.

The website expands and develops upon the ideas expressed in the book, to form a new framework to structure this philosophy. The content from the Being Human Today blog has been transfered to the new website which is where the blog will continue going forward. There will be no further posts at this Being Human Today blog location but existing email and RSS subscribers will automatically receive new posts from the new website.

It will be great to receive your comments on the new content. You can login with Facebook and express your thoughts. The content will be continually developed and refined, so I would love your ideas to help shape it. Hope to see you there :-)

Tinkering

Whilst I'm doing some tinkering in the background, the main address beinghumantoday.com will cease functioning. However, this blog will still be available at beinghumantoday.blogspot.com.

NOW Published!

Who am I? What am I doing here? What is the meaning of life? Is this all there is? Why am I never satisfied? Why is life so difficult? What is the secret of happiness? How do I take control? Am I missing something? Do you ever wonder? Answers contained within.

I am very happy to tell you that "Towards Personal Empowerment" is now published and available for sale in paperback, eBook, and on the iBookStore. I am overjoyed to finally reach this stage after six years of writing and editing in my spare time. "Towards Personal Empowerment" is about understanding and applying the answers to life's big questions in order to improve our experience. If this intrigues you, I hope you will find the time to give it a read. Otherwise, it would be fantastic if you could share this with someone who may be interested. Each of the above links also allows you to rate and review the book, helping to generate future interest. Thank you so much for your interest and support. Take good care, Michael

New Direction

The top 25 authors have now been announced for round 3 of the Next Top Spiritual Author competition. Scoring was assessed by popularity vote, judging panel, and the publisher. Unfortunately, I was not selected to proceed. So instead I will return to my original plan of self publishing with an online service such as Lulu.com.

The competition has supported me to announce “Being Human – Towards Personal Empowerment” to everyone and in so doing given me a great drive forward in my plans to publish. Next I will complete the final editing that is still needed and then proceed to publish online. Lulu uses print on demand technology which means for each order that is placed, a new book will be printed and dispatched. This helps to drastically reduce the costs involved.

I will keep you updated with any progress as I make it going forward at www.BeingHumanToday.com. Being Human Today is a selection of information from other sources on the Internet that is the same philosophy as I describe in “Being Human – Towards Personal Empowerment”. In this way instead of directly sharing this philosophy in my words, I can share it using the voices and expressions of many different people. I like to think that there is nothing new being said, just different ways of expressing the same basic underlying principles.

The energy that has surrounded the competition has been immense and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. I am very excited now to carry this energy forward on a more personal level and to publish later this year. Thank you so much for providing me your support this far.

Take good care,
Michael

Please vote in round 2

Round 2 of the Next Top Spiritual Author competition is now open for voting!

I need your help again to vote for me in round 2 of the Next Top Spiritual Author competition. With 271 authors remaining in the competition, this should be the last time that I will be asking you to vote. From round 3 there will only be 25 authors and success will be determined by the judging panel.

Vote for me at http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=254

For round 2 authors should submit a book proposal and a sample chapter. You can read my entry at the above link. To vote just login with your email address and password you set up last time.

Also, please pass this message onto your friends and family and ask them to support me as well. Round 2 is open to all for voting, including those who didn't vote in round 1. By you spreading the word and encouraging others to vote as well, I stand a much greater chance of progressing to round 3!

You can also spread the word with the Facebook page which already has 123 fans and is a great way for me to keep you updated.

Thank you very much for your support :-)
Michael

P.S. Please drop me an email or Facebook message if you vote so that I can keep track of my progress and best update you later.

Do you ever wonder? NTSA

Who am I? What am I doing here? What is the meaning of life? Is this all there is? Why am I never satisfied? Why is life so difficult? What is the secret of happiness? How do I take control? Am I missing something?

Have you ever wondered about the answers to these questions? I used to. Then I found them and wrote a book about it!

Now, I really need your help to get published. The 'Next Top Spiritual Author' competition is only made possible thanks to the evolving methods of communication happening through the Internet. Never before have we been so empowered to connect with one another than we are today. Approximately 3500 new authors are participating in the competition from all around the world. Thousands of votes are being cast every day. Please help to bring my message forward by casting your vote to support me.

Vote for me at http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=254

In order to fairly track who has voted for who, it is necessary to use an email confirmation - hence entering your email address is the only way to cast a vote. I am aware that some people may be concerned with this. You will receive email updates about the competition from time to time. At any time you have the option to unsubscribe - each email will contain information about how to unsubscribe at the end of the message. It is as simple as a couple of clicks and you will not receive anymore emails. The competition organisers state on their website that they "will never sell, trade or give away your personal information and abide by all email laws". Also, I am in regular contact with them, so just let me know if you have any issues and I will raise it with the organisers directly. However, I really doubt that you will have any problem at all.

For the first round of the competition, each author must submit a video or audio pitch about their book. You can watch my video pitch on the competition website.

Voting for the first round of the competition closes at midnight on Monday 3rd May. The top 250 authors with the most votes will progress to the second round. Please help me progress, firstly by voting, and then by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. In this way the potential number of votes increases tremendously. If you think my book has potential, please spread the word and ask people to vote for me.

You can also spread this with Facebook. Every vote really does count.

Thank you for your support, I really appreciate it.
Michael John Roberts

P.S. The competition website does not reveal individual votes, so if you vote please drop me a message and let me know. I can then keep some idea of how well things are progressing.

Do you ever wonder?

'Next Top Spiritual Author' Competition

I need your help! Six years ago I started writing a book and this year it will be ready to publish. I have entered a competition which if I win, I will be offered a publishing contract. I need you to vote for me!

Vote for me at http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=254

If money doesn't buy happiness - what does? Twelve years ago, this question led me on a journey into the deeper meaning of life. In the summer of 2004, after six years of looking for answers, I had what I can only describe as an 'epiphany of clarity'. It was an amazingly beautiful and humbling experience, and soon afterward my desire to look for answers disappeared, to be replaced with a yearning to express what I had come to understand. I wanted to record this wisdom clearly and concisely, in terms that anyone living in today's world could easily relate to. In this way I have written "Being Human - Towards Personal Empowerment".

Please vote for me in 'The Next Top Spiritual Author' competition. The competition started on 29 March 2010 and I need your vote. The winner of the competition will be offered a publishing contract from Hampton Roads Publishing, one of the top Body/Mind/Spirit publishers in the world, along with a promotional package worth over $50,000 to help launch their book.

For round 1 of the competition, each author must submit a video or audio pitch about their book. You can watch my video pitch on the competition website.

The competition has four rounds and will run for most of the year. Round 1 is basically a popularity contest - the top 250 authors with the most votes will progress to round 2. All votes are cast on the competition website. Each author in the competition will be asking everyone they know to vote for them. However, the real power of the Internet can best be harnessed by you discussing and passing this on to your friends and family. In that way the potential number of votes increases tremendously. So, if you think my book has potential, please tell your friends and family, and anyone else you may talk to and ask them to vote for me too!

Thank you for your support, and please... spread the word :-)
Michael

My first experience of India

2 weeks in India from Michael Roberts on Vimeo.

Hempi

Hempi is hot! So hot! Barely a breeze most of the time. Multiple power cuts each day/night so the fans often stop too. Surrounded by piles and piles of rocks, it was actually used as the set for The Flintstones movie. Steeped in history with many ancient buildings and temples all around dating back to the 13th century. A short scooter ride away is a beautiful reservoir where we can swim and get a break from the heat. Paddy fields all around and oxen pulling carts down the street. The children seem as happy as anywhere but ask for money at every meeting.
Back on the train to Goa now for the first leg of my journey home to Dubai. No luck uploading in Hempi so these posts will be a little delayed. After a week or so without issue I now have some stomach problems. It wouldn't be India without it!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Beach Life

Waking up each day when the temperature gets too hot to sleep anymore. Freshen up in the ensuite, meditation to waken the mind, then step out of my shack onto a beautiful golden beach.
Puppies are living right outside my door. They stay near their mother, sleeping in the hot hours, and playing when it's cooler. There are many dogs here - street dogs and beach dogs - as well as cats, pigs, cows, and chickens all roaming free. Cows even make good use of the roads to get about and only seem to cause accidents occassionally.
A few feet from my shack is Sanjay's, where you can get anything you want from porridge with banana to clean laundry or a taxi to the airport. You could easily chill out at Sanjay's all day, and some people do, but there is a beautiful blue sea gently lapping a long golden beach that stretches all the way into town and then beyond. The sea feels warmer than the air but is welcomely refreshing to break the midday sun. Every hundred meters or so down the beach another rest-o-bar mellows in the sunshine.
There are kitesurfers on this beach. The wind is perfect - consistent and gently increasing through the afternoon. I have to come back with my kite equipment. It is so perfect for kiting!
Arambol town is 15 minutes walk along the beach or 5 minutes on scooter through the back streets. The back steets are little more than dirt tracks. Everyones houses seem to mix together, intermingled with the occassional field or shop. Scooters are the most popular means to travel. Use of the horn is vital at all and any opportunity. Great care and attention also highly advised - these people don't hesitate to take your life into their hands. With the scooters we were able to travel up and down the coast a little and see the beautiful scenery that seems to be everywhere here.
After a week in Arambol, Goa, we are now off to Hempi to see some more wonders and apparently stunning scenery. 8 hours on the train, sleeper class - actually suprisingly comfy :-)

Goa!

Wow! Goa is so much bigger than I thought. My impression was of a town but this is a state. I am staying in Arombol, about 1.5 hours from the airport. It's more of a touristy area but not far from a more rural India either, as you will see from some of the photos. The scenery is beautiful. The weather is very hot and humid. Cools down a bit in the evening but the midday hours are very swetty! I have been staying with Nick in his little house but tonight should be moving to a beach hut, to get some of my own space. I have a scooter so have been exploring a bit of the local area. I bought a shirt today for 150 Rupees which is about 2 pounds. I think I probably over paid as well - chances are!
Nick has a lot of friends all about this area, so he has been steadily introducing me to them all. Quite overwhelming as he seems to know everybody! Everyone is very friendly, especially the locals :-)

Time for change

Hi Blog Followers :-)

This is the first time that I have posted my own words onto this blog! I am planning some changes in content going forward, and I wanted to let you know what's happening. You may have read my three objectives listed on the right side panel of the main blog site. So far my posts have been content that I have found inspiring on the web, that is associated with my objectives. This may be interesting but I feel that I want to get much more involved in these objectives rather than just giving them lip service. So my intention long term, is to change my life from an office job to one much more aligned to these objectives everyday! I want to live them everyday, and I want to demonstrate that experience through this blog! What this will mean and what the experience will look like is basically an experiment, so watch this space!

I have been testing a photostream over the last week, and also bought an iPhone. Apologies if you have noticed a couple of blank or test posts, or other issues - I have been testing and setting up the iPhone so that I can post to the blog, post to twitter, and post photos, from anywhere, at anytime (provided I have some kind of network signal - 3G, GPRS, or WiFi). On the main blog page now you will also see my twitter feed and my photostream feed - please subscribe to both or just view the blog page as you wish. Again, how you join me in this experience is also an experiment. Technology and social networking are making this possible and are changing all the time - I intend to make the best use of these as I can!

To start this experiment, I am going to India for a fortnight vacation. I will use the iPhone to post blog, twitter, and photo content onto this site (and to the subscription and RSS links). Let's see how well it works!

I will also continue to post web content that I find inspiring alongside my own posts. I hope you find it interesting and I will always love to read your thoughts and comments.

Take good care.

“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” Charles DuBois