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

Link: A New Moral Context

"In a culture that values individual freedoms above and beyond anything else, it is all too easy to become self-centered and narcissistic. But consider, for a moment, the mind-expanding fact that our highly developed capacity for individuality is the product of a hundred thousand years of cultural evolution, and that cultural evolution is the product of three billion years of biological evolution, and biological evolution is the product of almost fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution. All of it is part of one unfolding process. This recognition engenders a profound sense of connectedness with the entire evolutionary continuum. As our awareness expands dramatically in the direct realization of the nonduality of absolute interrelatedness, our small, personal bubble of separate individuality bursts. Slowly but surely, we discover a powerfully implicating new moral context for our existence here at the leading edge of our evolving cosmos."

Andrew Cohen

http://www.enlightennext.org Quote of the week

Link: Give Happiness

Great souls take advantage of every moment and every opportunity to give happiness to others through kindness in their thoughts; such souls are willing to overlook weaknesses and mistakes and have the desire to help everyone reach their potential.

http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

Link: Why I don’t care about success

A lot of people in my field write about how to be successful, but I try to avoid it. It’s just not something I believe is important.
Now, that might seem weird: what kind of loser doesn’t want to be successful?
Me. I’m that loser.

Read the full post at... http://zenhabits.net/anti-success

Link: TURF DANCING in the RAIN

Link: University of Miami student changes lives - one hug at a time

A University of Miami graduate student has spent the better part of his college career inspiring others in an unusual way.

For two years, University of Miami student Kemy Joseph has been wearing signs around his neck with uplifting messages like ``U R Awesome,'' and ``Persevere.'' On Thursday, he celebrated his second anniversary of spreading goodwill by spending 15 hours on campus giving high-fives and hugs. His goal: to make 800 people feel a little bit better in one day.

Read the full article at... http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/09/1816860/university-of-miami-student-gives.html?asset_id=Students%20%27free%20hugs%27%20and%20%27high%20fives%27%20brighten%20UM%20campus&asset_type=html_module

Link: The Gandhi Rap - Be the change u want to see

Link: Present Moment Reminders from Eckhart

When you drop your expectations that a person, a situation, a place, or an object should fulfill you, it's easier to be present in this moment because you're no longer looking to the next one. Most people want to get what they want, whereas the secret is to want what you get at this moment.

Eckhart Tolle

http://www.eckharttolletv.com/free/present-moment-reminders

Link: Create Vision

Never believe anyone who says we cannot change. Vision is one of the secrets of personal transformation. We are all artists, our mind is the arena of creation and vision is what we are constantly creating. What is your vision of yourself today - patient, relaxed, positive or tense, tight and negative? What do you prefer? So be creative - what does patience look like, feel like, what are you doing that is different when you are patient and you are expressing your power to ...wait? Always start with vision not action. See it and you will be it. Be it and you will do it. This is how we create our own life.

http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

Link: The Ripple Effect of Kindness

Over the last few years, I've become a big proponent of Smile Cards. The premise behind these small cards is simple: do an anonymous act of kindness and leave a card behind, inviting the recipient to pay-it-forward. If he/she does, the chain keeps going, resulting in "ripples" of kindness radiating out.

Smile Cards are wonderful in ways I cannot count. Small, simple, humble -- yet powerful, because one act of kindness can be the start of a long chain. But for all these reasons, the main reason why I use them is the subtle change that has begun to occur in the way I think.

Read the full post here...
http://www.charityfocus.org/blog/view.php?id=2217