For a while, it was a cozy arrangement and I felt that from my fortified position within the gates, like the neighbors who make up this tiny self-enclosed community, I would be free to extend outward in easy and predictable ways in order to engage the larger world out there. I was content behind the gate of this community for quite a long time. Work and other necessities of life required various physical moves to other places, both exotic and homely, but whether I was living on a tropical island or in a blazing desert, I kept the gated community within my skull close like a hidden oasis that was always with me.

I never once had the gate jam on my way out. I never once failed to gain access on my way in after punching in the key code. The gate on my community functioned flawlessly every time. Others occasionally attempted to bluster their way into my tidy little community but somehow, the gate always held them back — or most of them anyway. Rather than leaving me with a sense of isolation, however, I relished in the insular coziness and self-contained perspectives of mind, secure in the knowledge that nothing and no one could force its way past the gate without my permission.

Then it happened. One day my gate stuck open and stayed that way long enough for me to realize that the world was far more magical than I had given it credit for in the past. I was enchanted by the visitors from the outside who now poked around my flowerbeds and shared jokes with the neighbors in an endless procession of colorful eccentricities that only later I came to understand as normal for the outside. I wondered if the sprinklers would somehow turn on and wash them all away. I couldn’t decide to invite them in for tea or chase them away with a stick. In the end I did neither.

It seemed like days had passed and the outsiders were still hanging around. Had no one repaired that gate yet? Despite myself, I began to think of them as familiar friends in an odd sort of way. They sometimes even seemed to be related to me somehow. The easy smile of that one as he relaxed in a patch of sun on my front lawn, the mysterious look of mischief in the eye of another as she related a recent exploit, the arm-waving excitement of another when illustrating a point in a story — I came to think of these strangers as welcome diversions to my otherwise routine and uneventful life.

One day I was watching their antics and was suddenly struck with an overwhelming sense of sadness. What if they left? What if the gate slammed shut and that somehow cut them off from the source of their existence from the outside world?

I fell into a troubled sleep that night and woke up determined to make sure that these visitors — once strangers and now friends — would remain free to come and go as they pleased. To hell with the neighbors! Not that any of them had seriously objected anyway. Early that morning I found a length of rope in the garage, got in my car, and after reaching the gate, attached it firmly to my car and pulled it down with a loud crash. There was no turning back. I was liberated now! I felt invincible and feisty at the same time; nothing could keep me behind bars any longer, not even by my own hand. Stifling the impulse to drag the gate through the community behind my car, I detached the rope and shoved it off to the side, mute testimony to a momentary act of madness — or was it sanity? — of a dangerously free spirit.

As I came back home, the visitors seemed to sense my new-found re-engagement with life and they greeted me warmly. I knew now that they were every much a part of my internal community as I was. In fact, there seemed to be no real difference between myself and them. We were all part of this amazing internal structure I had been carrying around in my heart and head, this gated community safely locked away from the outside and grown predictable and complacent over the years.

I was amazed at how this artificial construct colored my life in so many ways, as if I had tried to freeze the vastly ever-changing world itself into a convenient and impermeable idea to hold onto forever. No more gates. Time for the joy of discovery and for taking delight in the mind’s unexpected twists and turns on a path that led who knows where.

Surrounded by my new friends, I sat down on the grass and felt the warm sunshine of a bright and healing day on my skin. Life is good. I am good. They are good. It is all good. The day held the golden promise of my mind’s liberation and I was content at last. The gate was open.

About the Author
Timothy Thompson is a professional freelance writer/editor whose work with Dream Manifesto helps illuminate life for online and offline audiences around the world. He currently makes his home in southern California and is working on several content writing and editing projects. Visit Thompson Inkworks for information.

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A vision will help you to overcome obstacles in the way and helps you hold on when times are tough. A vision that is well defined helps you to focus and create a purpose that becomes your measurement for your success. If you do not have a vision of who you want to be, how you want to succeed or what you want out of life, you begin to lack drive and your life becomes just an order of events.

A strong and current vision connects with your passions and greatest potentials. Regardless of what is going on in the world or challenges that present themselves, a vision helps you know what and why you are doing the things you are doing. Having a vision is most important in the path of your success in life. You feel much more valuable as a person when you set and achieve visions and goals.

The Importance of a Vision
A vision can be used in two different ways: inspiration and prediction. It is first used to inspire you in reaching something that you are wanting. It is also used in prediction for changes in the future and interests you have.

A vision might be the most powerful way to keep your focused on what you want in life while keeping you motivated in achieving it. A vision will open up your mind to many possibilities and a brighter and bigger future. When you can envision a future that is better, happier, more productive, you are more likely to make the changes that are necessary for you to reach that type of life.
Visions within leaders

When a leader has a vision, they have the ability to see today as it is and calculate a future that grows and improves. A successful leader can see the future and still stay focused in the present. For a successful leader, a vision is not seen as a dream, but a reality that has not come into existence. A vision is easily perceived for leaders because their dedication and confidence as extremely strong. Leaders are able to spend hours upon hours to bring their visions into reality. Their vision acts as a force within them, driving them to action.

A vision is a strong force in anyone’s life, but a vision is essential in business. It is a target in which a leader focuses on resources and energy. The continual presence of a vision helps to motivate against forces of resistance: failure, emotional hardships (negative feedback) and real hardships (issues in the company).

When a vision is spread through a company, it pushes both the leaders and employees toward the same goals together rather than separately. Visions can successfully turn a corporate hierarchy into a harmonious and well-organized group.

A vision of a leader can be spread to others with proper communication. It can be discussed and perfected by all of those who have invested in it and believe it. A vision is the glue that holds together individuals of a group with the same goal.

Who do you want to be?
Your vision should include who you want to be. It is important to know clearly who you are right now to know who you want to become. This includes your habits, attitudes, and points of view. If you are unclear about yourself, you will be unclear about your future. The destination of your vision should be emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual.

How to Build a Vision?
The first step in creating a vision is to know exactly what you want. If you have a hard time creating a vision, reading history can help you see past changes and what changes you might like for yourself. Ask yourself where you want to see yourself in so many years. Do you want to be healthy? Wealthy? Tell yourself specifically how you picture your life. Anything is possible within a vision. When you build your vision, vision big.

When you create a successful vision, you begin to feel passionate about it. The only way to be successful in your vision is to visualize it and set goals and a plan of action to reach your vision. Over time, you will begin to see more parts of your vision coming true until one day you see yourself living your vision.

A vision is the capability to see beyond your current reality, creating and inventing what does not now exist and becoming what you are not right now. A vision is important in all aspects of life; physically, emotional, corporately. Building your vision does not have to be difficult as long as you know exactly what it is you see for yourself in the future.

Important things to remember when creating a vision:

1. Know exactly who you are.
2. Brainstorm, imagine and dream.
3. Focus on things that give your life purpose and meaning.
4. Do not put limits on your dreams.

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By the time you have poured the entire pitcher out into the glass, you will notice all discolored liquid is gone and only pure, translucent water remains. The same holds true with regard to your mind. As you replace cynical, self-defeating thoughts that crush your self-esteem with a positive, empowering vision that feeds your magnificence, the power of the new thoughts eventually replace the old. This elevates your esteem and dilutes the thoughts that previously consumed your attention. The power in realizing this transformation comes from the magnitude of new positive energy that far surpasses the old negative force.

To mold your new life vision, close your eyes and imagine that a genie has just appeared before you. This genie has offered to grant your every wish, provided you have the courage to envision it, believe it will happen and pursue it. In order to create this vision, you need to temporarily suspend any self-defeating thoughts that you will only have in your life what you have always had.

The past does not need to be a harbinger of the future. Keep in mind that we will be developing a specific plan of action to address the question, “What exactly will it take to manifest this vision?” So, create your dream vision with the expectation that we will be designing a plan to bring each aspect of it into reality.

Let’s start by revisiting what values your vision will honor. These will form the fabric that will weave throughout your vision. Next, review the qualities you previously recorded that you will enhance and further develop. These qualities will speak to who you are being as you construct your dream life. And lastly, make a list of your passions. These are those things you love to do and would gladly look forward to doing every day for the next 50 years. Your passions make life worthwhile.

Think of this vision as a movie script you will watch play out before you on the silver screen as you take your seat in the theater featuring your life story. Write your vision in first person and present tense as if you are describing a scene from the movie as it happens. Create a vivid mental image with as much detail as possible to bring your vision to life.

Utilize all your senses in describing it – sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. See your vision as an already accomplished reality in the present, not merely as something you want or hope to have happen. If you construct your vision as something you hope to have, the wanting, desiring and not having of it will manifest instead of the realization of the vision itself.

Include within your vision the answers to the following questions:

• Who will you be? What qualities and values will you embody? How will you look and come across to others? What will your self-image be?
• What will you do with your life when you possess these qualities and values? How will you spend a typical day at play and a typical day at work?
• What will you have as a result of being these qualities and doing the actions consistent with them?
• Where will you live? In what type of home and with whom? With what physical possessions will you surround yourself?
• What other things such as great friends, abundance, personal freedom, peace of mind, etc. will you have? What goals will you accomplish?
• Who will you assist or support with these accomplishments? Are there any special people, organizations or causes that will be an important part of your life?
• What will your relationships be like? Picture yourself interacting with friends, family, co-workers and all you meet in a way that reflects your high self-esteem and rich friendships.

You can’t do this exercise wrong, so have fun creating your vision as a magnificent person worthy of the best that life has to offer.

Visions supply the creative energy that speeds the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. They nourish our ambitions, help clarify our intentions and elevate our self-esteem to the extent that we have the courage to create them, speak them so as to inspire others and believe in their ultimate realization. They serve as the blueprint for the magnificent castle we will build with the granite blocks of our actions and the mortar of our interpretations.

It’s now your turn to create your very own empowering vision. Please do not pass up this opportunity to take advantage of the magic that it can unleash in transforming your life and self-image.

The ultimate value of a vision is that it serves as a motivating place to come from, rather than a place to get to. Visions are also dynamic. As you achieve certain aspects of your vision, it will evolve to include new and previously unforeseen elements. Some aspects of your current vision will also change in time to no longer be part of your evolving vision. For these reasons, visions are always in need of periodic review and reevaluation. They serve to inspire and motivate you and others, not to restrict your options and vitality.

Once you have created your written vision, commit to reading it twice daily without fail, in the morning upon rising and in the evening right before bedtime. As the vision becomes an intention and expectation, your belief in its ultimate realization will support its manifestation into the world.

Exercise:
Write out your personal empowering vision in first person and present tense. Describe in detail what every aspect of your life will be like. Read your vision at least twice each day.

About the author:
To introduce you to his work, Dr. Rubino is making available to you for free a valuable audio recording called “7 Steps to Soaring Self-Esteem” plus a complimentary 1 year membership in his “Success Achievers Club.” I strongly recommend that you visit his website, pick up your free gifts and take a closer look into this life-enhancing book. Visit this special link now to pick up your complimentary gift.

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Many very successful business people lack self-esteem in some areas of their lives. Perhaps they feel socially challenged or they have difficulty establishing close or intimate relationships. Perhaps they experience low self-esteem with regard to their physical appearance or their health. Perhaps they are not having any fun in their lives, maybe devoting too much attention to their work. Many “successful” people are driven to succeed.

They compensate for feeling deficient in other areas of their lives by working harder and finding a place they can excel through their work. This provides them with a new focus where they can win but it doesn’t fulfill their neglected needs in other areas like relationships, recreation, personal and spiritual development, health and appearance and their ability to lead balanced, fun, and fulfilling lives.

It’s not that there is something wrong with finding an occupational niche where one can be successful and feel good about oneself. However, many of those lacking self-esteem in other areas find themselves driven to accomplish, driven to prove their worth. Since business is an area where they can shine, they neglect other areas to focus excessively on business.

However, since their actions are built upon the erroneous belief that they are somehow not good enough, somehow defective or unworthy of being fully loved and accepted, there is little lasting satisfaction even in the arenas where they can excel. It’s as though they are climbing a ladder with the top of the ladder in the clouds. They think that if they can just climb high enough, they will be successful. They will have proven their worth. They will find satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment. However, as they climb higher and higher, they never seem to arrive.

There are always new goals and objectives challenging them to prove their worth. The more they achieve, the more they have yet to go. Try as they will, they never seem to fully measure up. Or, if they do, it is short-lived and fleeting at best. There is no arriving to the point where they find what they long for so badly – the peace of mind that comes from self-love and self-acceptance.

Because the foundation of their ladder is grounded on quicksand, they often find themselves sinking as rapidly as they climb. In fact, from their perspective, they will never reach the perfection they seek so badly. They will always find evidence to highlight their flaws and reinforce their fears of being unworthy, unlovable, defective in some way.

In addition to the cost of never finding true happiness, long-term fulfillment, or peace, lacking self-esteem impacts business people in many other ways. For example, by not getting to the source of their self-esteem issues, they sacrifice their personal power, their ability to best pursue their life purpose and fully manifest their gifts in the world. If our energy is spent by being preoccupied with our weaknesses or being incomplete with our past, we can never be fully present to today and so we sacrifice our true potential to be our very best.

Our relationships suffer as we will misinterpret the words and actions of others in a way that invalidates us and has us feel badly about who we are. We may be so driven to prove we are good enough that we sacrifice our personal effectiveness and charisma by focusing on ourselves and our deficiencies rather than on the wants and needs of others. We may play small and hide out in social situations or whenever the possibility of looking bad or “being found out” comes up for us. Or, we may overcompensate and turn to workaholic tendencies out of a desire to prove our worth to others or to ourselves. Because of this misdirected focus, we trade our ability to impact others maximally and to best contribute our gifts to the world.

By raising self-esteem, we will realize a wide variety of benefits in our professional and personal lives. Those with high self-esteem are more effective in their communication and more likely to establish richer, more rewarding relationships. People with greater self-confidence possess a more positive expectation for the future. They feel good about their ability to accomplish a result and so they are more proactive, are in more focused action, and have less of a tendency to sabotage themselves along the way as those lacking self-esteem typically do.

Those believing in their abilities are less driven to prove themselves as worthy and so they are less prone to burnout. They relax more and tend to have fun more often and are less stressed since they have less to prove. Those with a higher self-image are also more likely to savor their accomplishments rather than find ways to invalidate them.

In their personal lives, people with elevated esteem tend to be more at peace. Couples possessing high self-esteem typically fight less with each other and tend to do better in sustaining long term relationships. Because they are less likely to be invalidated at the slightest provocation and are less likely to fear being dominated by their peers, they tend to get along better with others. Being less scarcity-based, they tend to make time for both work as well as recreation and passions rather than being driven to prove themselves worthy in those areas where they feel deficient.

The message of “The Self-Esteem System” is simple. No one needs to settle for a dimmed existence due to a lacking sense of self-worth. Most people either make up or buy into thoughts that there is something wrong with them, that they are somehow inadequate, not good enough and not worthy of being loved and accessing all the good things that life has to offer.

If they are willing to examine their past to get to the source of their resignation and diminished self-esteem, they can reinterpret what happened to them in such a way that they can heal and complete the past and eliminate negative self-talk while making a conscious decision to live their lives from a decision to strive for excellence and contribute to others. By developing a firm belief that they can impact people and the world around them and that they are, in fact, very worthy of receiving life’s blessings, they will manifest happiness and fulfillment.

The answer to escaping the vicious cycle of lacking self-esteem, diminished confidence, and the never-ending, frustrating quest for fulfillment lies in the 3 step process as laid out in detail in The Self-Esteem Book. The process starts with healing one’s past so that it no longer robs us of energy and consumes our attention. We do this by reinterpreting the upsetting events of our childhood in a way that involves empathy, forgiveness, and gratitude.

We create empathy for those who said or did things that hurt us and caused us to lose esteem by asking the question “What could it have been like in this person’s world for them to have acted as they did?” This is not the same as condoning hurtful behavior. It is simply making the observation that they acted in alignment with how they viewed the world. As a child we gave these happenings meanings that resulted in our decision that we did not measure up in some way to the standards of perfection we set for ourselves.

We can then make a conscious decision to both forgive those who hurt us and forgive ourselves for the mistakes we made. And lastly, rather than focus on our weaknesses, we can decide to be grateful for our strengths and gifts. We can learn to acknowledge ourselves for the things we do well and for the unique, special gifts we bring to the world.

Once the pull of past ghosts is complete, we can then turn our attention to properly analyzing our present state of affairs. We can identify what’s working in our lives and what’s missing to support living an upset-free life in choice, a life that honors our most important values and inspires us to live passionately. We can analyze each of the six predominant areas of our lives: our health and physical appearance and makeup, our occupation or life’s work, our wealth and finances, our relationships and family, our spiritual and personal development, and our fun, recreations, and passions. We can highlight our strengths and decide to work to improve upon the things that we see as lacking in each area.

And finally, we can take that magic wand that is our birth-right, wave it over our lives and design our future deliberately. We can choose to do so in a way that excites us, as we cast off that gloomy state of low self-esteem, unhealthy resignation and self-pity that no longer supports us. We can create a vision for who we are and the qualities for which we wish to be known.

We can decide how we will spend a typical day at work or at play. We can envision the things that we will have around us in our lives, including such things as where we will live and with whom. And we can decide how our lives will be spent so that we honor our most important values, who we will contribute to, and what passions and gifts we will focus on manifesting.

We can decide to read such a written vision daily and replace our negative self-talk with powerful affirming statements that support our self-worth. In short, we can live with the intention to honor our God-given magnificence and lead happy, fulfilled lives that fully contribute to others as we embrace our humanity and share the unique and special person we are with the world.

For more information go to: The Center for Personal Reinvention

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What Keeps Us From Sustaining This Level of Heart Opening Every Day?
First, we are immersed in a materialistic culture that encourages us to focus on our own narrow agendas, including our spiritual ones, and �going it alone.� Over many years we divide into �sub communities�: by religious beliefs; political ideologies; economics; and special interests – a new Tower of Babel, where we all speak different languages. As a result, we have seen an increase in spiritual and social isolation; and a loss of connection and caring among neighbors, family, friends, and community.

No matter how �evolved� we think we are, we may still internalize the idea that �my group� (spiritual, religious, political, etc.) or my beliefs are better than others. It is natural that we tend to hang out with like-minded believers because it makes us feel secure in an insecure world. But, this just magnifies our separation and creates a narrow container for consciousness.

Beliefs seem to serve as a way to �amp� down the limitless spiritual power of love that could flow through us. Infinite love flowing through us is scary because illumination would cause us to see all of the hidden, unexposed, and unhealed parts of ourselves. We would have to change – something the ego fights desperately against. We would have to do something very difficult – to see others, not through the lens of belief and group identity but through an available heart.

The other reason it is difficult to sustain heart opening is that too often we sit back and expect that a community based on love and compassion – what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the Beloved Community will come from something outside of us. We may have faith in our political system, the UN, or a social movement.

Or, we may think that if enough individuals separately attain peace within themselves, that eventually there will be peace in the world.

Both methods are necessary but not sufficient to turn things around. Instead of looking outside for what ails us, or internally finding our own private nirvana, let�s work together right where we live to find the cure.

Like hearted people who want to uplift humanity are found within every local community and in all social groupings. By connecting the dots between these diverse individuals and organizations we build a bigger container so that a critical mass of consciousness can fill it and a shift can take place in our total community life. As this happens globally we can achieve what Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ariyaratne refer to as a �commonwealth of village republics.� An awakened world comes from awakened communities.

A good way to start is to find shared concerns and action that most people can get behind. To do this, we need a conscious commitment to go beyond the comfort of our particular groups and bring others together, especially those who are different.

The most practical way to do this is to get to know the person right across the street – your neighbor. You might think of your neighbor as only a barking dog. It�s sad, but while we may travel around the world, we may never take a few steps across the street to get to know our neighbor.

What started as a regional effort, �Get To Know Your Neighbor Day� Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 has turned into an ongoing worldwide effort to spiritually uplift where we live. You can participate by hosting a pot-luck, block party, or gathering. The simplest thing to do is to go out and meet your neighbors by knocking on their door and saying hello – something you could do anytime of the year.

Neighbor Day is more than just a one time party. Last year, we heard many stories of people�s lives improved and some that were turned around by Neighbor Day. Neighbors found common ground and common needs they had, such as watching each others homes, children, and animals, and also found ways to be of service to each other. On any street, maybe next door, there are �invisible� people who could be on the margins – last year, people were able to offer a hand to seniors who were alone; the sick and hurting; youth in need of a mentor; single mothers; widows; folks one paycheck away from homelessness.

By bringing people together to help one another with common needs and making a difference, we put a face on the person next door and help people reconnect with the larger community they participate in. All of sudden, the invisible becomes seen and we all benefit.

These uplifting experiences happened, not as a result of a formal government or social service program or because of money, but because average people like you and me stepped forward and reached out to make a difference. And, even though it is a wonderful thing to go to Africa on a mission, donate money to charity, or volunteer locally, you can also be of service to humanity right next door.

By connecting neighbors and others through shared virtues – love, integrity, courage, service and respect – we can begin to build a solid foundation to solve the communities� (and the world�s) problems from the bottom up. Imagine if we each took responsibility to be a beacon of hope and light right on our own street.

A ripple effect of love will be generated, releasing a chain reaction that can create a shift in each of our communities� and eventually the world. Truly, peace in the world will not be given to us by governments, the UN, or others. With God�s help, we are the ones that we have been waiting for.

Find out more about the Conscious Community Network and Neighbor Day 2008 at: http://www.itstimereno.org/neighbor.asp

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The haunting spirit is manifold: a postwar decline in the United States in people who report themselves as happy, a rising tide in all advanced societies of clinical depression and dysphoria…increasing distrust of each other and of political and other institutions, declining belief that the lot of the average man is getting better�a tragic erosion of family solidarity and community integration together with an apparent decline in warm, intimate relations among friends.�

Nation�s Policies Should Be Guided By Happiness
Richard Layard, a British economist and member of the House of Lords, echoes these words in a book called Happiness, writing that a nation�s policies should be guided by happiness, not GDP. He says we should return to the classic Jeremy Bentham idea of the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

Peter Whybrow, head of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, says that the character of today�s culture is one of mania – we�re going faster and faster, reaching and grasping for happiness in futility until we crash into the next manic cycle, that of depression.

Obviously, the subject of happiness is a topic of interest to more and more scholars. But what is interesting to me is that when I start talking about happiness to progressive, liberal audiences, some of them start getting upset, arguing that happiness is a shallow thing to be concerned about and that our goal should be social justice. Of course, it goes without saying that we care about social justice. But what is the ultimate goal of justice? For people to suffer less and be happy! Happiness always assumes social justice.

Happy People Consume Less
I would think this is obvious, but I�ve found I need to defend the idea right from the start by doing a song and dance about the importance of happiness. Robert Lane does a nice job of explaining why happiness is important, so I always use the list he pulls from his survey of happiness literature. Happy people are more creative and productive in their thinking. They�re nicer; they consume less. They�re healthier and harbor less prejudice. By contrast, Lane says, depressed people make poor parents, cause coworkers to enjoy their jobs less, take more sick leave and suffer life-shortening health problems. �If going from the money standard to the companionship standard reduces these human and financial costs, we would all be better off,� Lane writes.

Lane presents a pretty good argument, but I�m still bothered that we need an argument in the first place. After all, isn�t our country based on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? And didn�t our founders consider this to be self-evident? Why is it hard for so many of us, particularly on the progressive end of the political spectrum, to understand that happiness should be our goal? Actually, I understand why people object. It�s because the idea of happiness has been distorted and linked to the pursuit of wealth and material things. As I�ll continue to point out, all of our important life-sustaining concepts have been distorted and diminished. (And, as I�ll also continue to argue, we need a national conversation on these issues.)

Happiness Is Being Used to Seduce People
It�s imperative that we understand happiness, because the pursuit of happiness is being used to seduce people into the corporate consumer lifestyle that is destroying our planet and putting us at war. Understanding happiness is important because if we are going to be able to get people to change, we must show them alternative ways of living that truly make them happy and do not destroy life. Our tactics of change themselves must make people happier! Most of our methods (lecturing, writing books, creating citizen initiatives, working to pass a law) simply bore people. Our protests, marches, and boycotts scare or alienate others. We must develop methods of change that in and of themselves make people happier.

Psychologists are beginning to understand its importance, and in the last few years research on happiness has exploded. In some ways I�m still skeptical of the research because self-reports of happiness, which most of the studies rely on, can be misleading. If all you�ve ever felt is a lukewarm sort of comfort, and never any ecstatic exuberance, you will define happiness as lukewarm comfort (thinking that�s as good as it gets!). But most researchers, while acknowledging that self-report has its limitations (what else can they say?), conclude that it seems to be a fairly reliable way to measure happiness. I�m not totally convinced – and some researchers have gone beyond self-report to look at measurable factors such as health consequences and neurological activity.

Further, it seems strange to me that we need to resort to research to try to understand happiness, when wise people have drawn the same conclusions about it throughout the ages. It may be that today, science more than wisdom is what gets people to listen.

Does Money Bring More Happiness?
The biggest factor researchers agree on is that after a certain point, more money does not bring more happiness. If you�re poor, more money makes you happier. After that? Nothing. In fact, in some cases happiness declines as affluence goes up. (Because as you have more and more money, you have less time for the things that matter. Making, managing, and spending money take a lot of time! As my husband�s father likes to say, the more things you own, the more things own you.)

This is an incredibly significant finding because it goes counter to all of our beliefs. Everything we do is aimed at making more money. All of our dreams of success focus on money, money and more money. We grow up with Horatio Alger stories of people going from rags to riches. We watch professional athletes and CEOs and poker stars pull down the big bucks and think they have it made. Apparently the mythology is potent, because somewhere around 35 percent of people in this country believe that they will one day be among the top 1 percent of income! (Obviously it�s one of the reasons that people haven�t risen up to oppose the multiple tax cuts given to the rich and privileged during the Bush administration.)

If there is one fact that everyone should know, it is this one. We must see through the myth that if you�re rich you�ll be happier – because the myth is at the basis of unhappiness and ill health, as well as corruption and injustice and war. Clutching at profit is the reason companies pay people low wages, make products that ruin people�s health, cheat employees out of their retirements and investments, destroy the environment, and go to war to try to control oil.

Everyone Wants to Win The Lotto
Yet even though the evidence is clear, the amazing thing is that at some level we all still believe that getting rich will make us happy! Prime case in point: Everyone wants to win the lotto. Yet research on actual winners shows that after the first few months of excitement, people go back to normal. By the end of the first year, that spike of pleasure is not only gone, people may be less happy than before. A New York Times front-page article in December, 2005, described how the winners of a $34 million lottery purchased expensive cars and a huge estate but were dead (from alcoholism and suspected drug overdose) within three years. Most of us, though (myself included), feel that we would be an exception – if we won, we would indeed be happier, because we, unlike those other poor saps, would know how to use the money.

So What Does Make Us Happy?
Again, there�s complete agreement. It�s warm, caring relationships with other people. Happiness has been on the decline because we live in a cold, cutthroat, uncaring culture. Most of us have rarely experienced being truly, truly cared for. Obviously, caring relationships are important for all kinds of things. Let�s look at the needs that Abraham Maslow outlined in 1943. He said we need food, water and sleep; we need to feel safe, and then we need to feel loved and accepted by others; then we move to esteem needs of respect from others and self-respect.

Finally, he suggests the need to be self-actualized – to express our true selves – and to experience self-transcendence – connection with something beyond one�s self. All of these needs are met through relationships. We need other people if we are to feel safe, loved and accepted; we need others� respect and esteem; we only become self-actualized by what we are able to offer humanity as a whole. It is people who give us a sense of security and it is caring for others that gives us a sense of meaning.

Excerpt from chapter 2 of the book: Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre available at amazon.

Find more books like this at: New Society Publisher

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I have the deepest respect for my fellow countrywoman who has dedicated her life to the study and conservation of chimpanzees, taught us that apes use tools and laugh, too, and caused us to redefine what it is that makes us human. But as Jane gave the keynote speech leading to our re-entry into the world, into what we called Biosphere 1, the minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness.

�Come on, people,� I muttered to myself. �I signed up for two years�not two years and one minute, or two minutes. Only two years.�

Eight ten. �Jane, let us apes out of the cage!�

Eight fifteen.

Finally, some screeching over the radio told us to scurry to the heavy metal airlock fashioned out of submarine bulkheads years earlier. It was eight twenty. We stepped in, the door swinging closed behind us with the bang and scrape of the closure mechanism, and the outer door opened.

One by one, we stepped out of our simple life of milking goats and weeding the garden, of weather reports that included�along with temperature and humidity readings�the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide. We left the daily struggle with tedium and discord, and stepped into applause, a trumpeted fanfare, cheering, a sea of cameras, backslaps, and handshakes.

For the first time in two years and twenty minutes, I inhaled the view of the bright desert sky with no white bars dissecting it into geometric patterns. The air seemed thin, insipid, not the thick atmosphere redolent with molecules from plants, fungi, animals�the pungent, pleasant, and unmistakable earthy fragrance of Biosphere 2.

Since September 26, 1991 the eight of us had risked much to live as if on Mars, farming all our food, recycling our water, our waste, and even the oxygen we breathed in our hermetically sealed 3.15-acre world. The rainforest, savannah, desert, ocean, and marsh had been our in-vitro test subjects for ecological research. But the glass and steel structure made a pressure cooker, our human foibles boiling to the surface in what some named the Human Experiment.

Now ten years have smoothed the searing anger I felt upon completing our mission. I can at last recall and assess the controversy and all that occurred in and around our New Age Garden of Eden, aided by the many people I have interviewed and the records I have read, with what approximates objectivity. I want to tell this extraordinary adventure tale of a colorful band of mavericks attempting what many said was impossible to set the record straight, to halt the maelstrom of misinformation that still swirls around the project.

Even now, when I open boxes containing books and clothing I had with me during my sojourn, the smell emanating from the brown cardboard transports me instantaneously back inside . . .

Jane Poynter shares her experience in her new book: The Human Experiment

About Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 is a structure built to be an artificial closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona (USA) by John Polk Allen, Space Biosphere Ventures and others. Constructed between 1987 and 1989, it was used to test if and how people could live and work in a closed biosphere, while carrying out scientific experiments. It explored the possible use of closed biospheres in space colonization, and also allowed the study and manipulation of a biosphere without harming Earth’s.

About Jane Poynter
Jane Poynter is one of only eight people ever in history to live sealed in an artificial world for two years. Jane�s preparation for Biosphere 2 involved training to survive in the Australian Outback and onboard a concrete research boat in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. She was part of the Biosphere from the start, ultimately managing the farm where the crew grew its food.

She is now President of Paragon Space Development Corporation, an aerospace firm that she co-founded with several engineers and fellow biospherian, Taber MacCallum, while inside Biosphere 2. Since leaving the project, Jane has had experiments flown on the International Space Station, the Russian Mir Space Station, and the U.S. Space Shuttle. Currently, she and Paragon are developing life support systems for astronauts and Navy deep-sea divers � and Jane recently started Yogi and Company, a multi-media production company.

Visit her website at: http://www.janepoynter.com

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It is Time for New Visions
Global MindShift’s mission is to help bring about a new era of cooperation and creativity on the planet.

It is a new way of thinking that can help us find solutions to world problems. It features an expanded perspective about the world we live in and how we can learn to cooperate more successfully. It offers 24/7 worldwide connectivity with others, 13.7 billion years of memory, and the power to improve the future.

Global MindShift is operated by three full-time staff and numerous volunteers. As a 501c3 non-profit, public benefit corporation, their seed funding comes from the Foundation for Global Community, however, they also rely on donations from individuals.

Its basic premise: Underlying the diversity of life is unity. If we can expand our perspective and truly see that all life is intimately connected, it would lead to a radical shift in how we think and act – a global mind shift.

About 35,000 years ago we humans became self-aware, and with that power we have changed the face of the planet. Today, we are under extraordinary pressure to expand our self-awareness into a collective awareness – one that recognizes our unity with each other and all of life. With extraordinary pressure comes extraordinary opportunity. With the power of collective awareness, we can once again change the face of the planet, this time consciously building a world that works for everyone.

While conversation is a form of action, it is not by itself sufficient. New ideas discovered through conversation need to be tested in the real world, and the results fed back to the global community. As they move forward, this website will offer a rich database of ideas and solutions that can be promoted globally, so that others can build and improve on what�s already been discovered.

To build a better world, we need a shared vision of what’s possible, and a process to help get us there. That’s the purpose of these online conversations. Out of these “conversations that matter” are coming creative ideas for action that we can do individually and as a collective.

Here are some samples and ideas:

The New Story
What is our cosmic story? In the last 100 years, science has provided more information on life than in all of recorded history. But what are we to do with that information? Cosmologist Brian Swimme explains why we need a new cosmic story that explains what we now know about the universe, and how that story can provide a pathway into the future of a vibrant life. Video Link

Global Mind Change
It seems like there are many problems in the world, but relax, there’s only really one. It’s how we think. Video Link

1/10,000 of a Second
If you think of Time as a precious resource, how might that change what you do? What’s really important? What really matters? Check out this video for a mind-shifting perspective on Time. Video Link

As the global community grows, so will the opportunities for taking effective action. Global MindShift looks forward to soliciting and testing creative ideas that illustrate what a global mind shift looks like in the real world. The most promising ideas will be used as the basis for their future promotion activities.

Make sure you watch ‘The Wombat’ short video. It’s an awesome clip, that says it all in less than a minute.

For more information visit: Global MindShift

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The Principles of Successful Manifesting - How to make your life dreams come true.
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The primary focus of the Bioneers is on solutions, informed by nature’s essential principles of interdependence, cooperation and community. The inspiring stories of these dedicated individuals illustrate the innumerable ways one person can make a difference, guiding us to a future environment of hope that is within our grasp today. Their insightful solutions involve innovative technical approaches while also embodying a change of heart, integrating principles of social and economic justice.

For sixteen years, the annual Bioneers Conference has helped to galvanize many of these brilliant practitioners into a thriving culture, while equipping participants with models, resources, tools and networks. The optimistic and practical vision encourages individuals, companies, governments and communities to act as primary forces in the great transformation toward a restorative future. Oriented to both professional and general audiences, the event reflects a wide variety of ideas and approaches while embracing diverse cultures.

The Bioneers Conference has also spawned Voices of the Bioneers, a media outreach project drawn from conference presentations. Articles featuring the Bioneers have appeared in innumerable publications in both mainstream and alternative print media. The Radio Series, Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature, features interviews and dynamic presentations from the Bioneers Conference archives.

Each year, Bioneers provides thirteen half-hour programs free to public radio stations across the country and around the world. In 2003, the series won the prestigious Silver WorldMedal for Excellence in Environmental Programming from the New York’s International Radio Programming Competition. In 2002, the series received a Bronze WorldMedal and was a finalist for the United Nations Department of Public Information Award.

What is the Purpose of the Bioneers?

• To maintain a forum for creative innovators, thinkers and activists with diverse approaches for restoring the Earth and people, from the grassroots to the societal;
• To optimize effective action by building bridges among diverse communities and cultures that otherwise operate separately, enhancing collaboration on a variety of culturally appropriate approaches to restoration;
• To develop an active faculty of Bioneers, introducing them to each other’s work to foster cross-pollination of ideas, strategies and networks;
• To disseminate environmental solutions to the public, to professionals and to the media; to cultivate grounded optimism, encouraging and equipping people to take action and engage more effectively in restoration.

Who Attends the Bioneers Conference?
Bioneers attracts global participation. Not a spectator sport, it draws mainly people actively working or seeking to engage in restoration projects. Approximately 65% of attendees come from California, and the remaining 35% come from other states around the US and the world. Around 30% are students, activists and seniors who receive fee reductions to facilitate their presence. Many professionals from a wide variety of fields attend, as do many journalists. Diverse cultures are well represented, and since its inception, Bioneers has included strong representation from the Native American community. Though serious scholars are among the presenters, the conference is not academic, but rather is oriented to action and activism.

How Many People Attend?
The Bioneers Conference in San Rafael fills to capacity, with over 3,000 people attending the conference in California, and this year we expect about 6,000 additional people attending at one of our seventeen Beaming Bioneers Satellite Sites. The plenary speakers are beamed via satellite to these local Bioneers events, which combine the satellite feed with region-specific programming in communities from Vancouver to New Hampshire to Arizona. See the attached Beaming Bioneers sheet for a complete description of each site and their programming highlights.

When, Where and How Did the Bioneers Conference Originate?
Kenny Ausubel founded Bioneers and its parent not-for-profit organization Collective Heritage Institute in 1990, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, shortly after he co-founded Seeds of Change, Inc., an organic seed company offering “backyard biodiversity” to gardeners. Since that time he has jointly produced Bioneers with his partner and wife Nina Simons, former President of Seeds of Change. The gathering moved to larger facilities in California’s Bay Area in 1993, where it has grown and flourished. Bioneers presently takes place at the Marin Center in San Rafael, California each October.

Who Produces Bioneers?
Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons produce the conference with strong participation from a gifted team. Among these are J.P. Harpignies, former program director of the New York Open Center, and Ginny McGinn, deputy director of Bioneers.

October 20-22 in San Rafael, California

For more information please visit: Bioneers Website

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