Imagine seeing such thank yous from your contributions...

Read, or glance at, this inspirational (to me) email from Sal Khan at the (free) Khan Academy that has touched many, many, many lives:   The Email

Touching moments...reflecting what we feel good about doing with our lives....

(Click on the title of this post to read the entire post.)

Bill's memorial...
Maria Shriver's life's work, for which she is being recognized...
And the meaningful moments of a person's life when they see that what was meaningful to them was actualized into the reality of their lives.

We talk of purpose and meaning, but here is where theory and nice thoughts actually become reality.

Bill is a man I admire for a number of things.  Though he couldn't control how long his life would be, he did control how his life would be - he made it a great one, full of family, love, being a man you could rely on, being a man of results and kept promises, his mountain cabin, love of fishing, great hosting of get togethers, extracting the joy of life from life, always with integrity... Touching stories, and some funny ones, relayed by people whose lives he has touched in a more than surfacey way...  My experience of him, confirmed by many others, was that he always had a hand out for everyone (he held his hand out to shake yours, or to reach out "spiritually" in a way that connected), he welcomed everyone and fully accepted who they were (you could "feel" it) as they were (not as they "should" be)...  And he provided a great model of living life (and of integrity)....

Then Maria Shriver, regardless of which political beliefs one embraces, is speaking at the Alzheimer's conference recently, as written in her blog, relates her experience (wherein a particular phrase struck me with very strong, intensely "gotcha" emotion):

"My brother Timmy, who was there with me and my two daughters, Katherine and Christina, will tell you that I'm not much of a hugger. But something in me shifted that night as I embraced the hugs of total strangers. I felt myself softening. I felt myself feeling the gratitude of others. I felt safe. I felt a connection that moved my heart. I felt it so much that when I stood up to accept the award and thank my family, I cried. (OMG.)

I cried because in that moment, I felt so much love. It just took me aback.

I took a deep breath and looked out at a room of people whose lives were hard, but who stepped forward to let me know that my work and my efforts mattered.

I felt their love and I realized that I needed their care and their validation. Because no matter who we are, or what family we were born into, we are all human beings who need love. We’re all people who need care, who need a hug, and who want to know that what we are doing matters."

That speaks for itself, methinks.  

One might want to copy and highlight (or at least mentally highlight) the meaningful phrases in these... 

_______

Perhaps these might be good for leading into a moment of reflection on how we all might want to live our lives...and perhaps on how we can MAKE life meaningful and how we can drop the wasting of life on the unmeaningful, low value pastimes and tasks we all can get, unthinkingly, swept up in. 

Really Living?

(Click on the title of the article to go to the full blog posting.  If you receive this email notice, it only includes a few lines to give you the basic idea...)

We have ceded control of our daily lives.

Amid incessant distraction, our discipline in pursuing high ambitions has vanished.

The white space of a free day seems unfathomable because we have become hypnotized by a false but compelling need to respond to all the needs of others.

We are pulled at from every angle, torn from meaningful efforts by frivolous pursuits or false emergencies, and we are often unsure how to balance our lives with the needs of those we love.

We are too often detached from what is most worth fighting for; our busywork consumes our day but it is not our life’s work.

Most do not feel a stark, stirring life purpose—they don’t hunger for it in the morning or orient their day to its pursuit.

A life of greater joy, power, and satisfaction awaits those who consciously design their life.

For this, we now declare: We shall reclaim our agenda."  

                Brendon Burchard, The Motivation Manifesto

Indeed, it is a stark contrast from what I've seen is the human potential (that I have seen several people living) and the busywork of the lives of those who are driven by other's agendas, seeking to please and to comply and to conform - but not really living…      

A Super-Highly Recommended Book

(Don't forget to put you email address into the "follow by mail", if you want to have an automatic notification of any new posts and updates.)

I'd highly recommend you  follow the process in the (free) book Journey To You, as it'll take you through identifying some "mistruths" many people believe and in the process you'll identify a true sense of purpose and a confidence that I believe will serve you.

Just go Steve Olsher's website and request your free copy of the 200+ page book, one that I believe is one of the best I've read, easily putting across some points in such a clear manner that I have not yet been able to make.  

I couldn't put the book down, as it did such a good job of "building" and leading to some great results.   Although you get it for free, I did a review on the book at Amazon (Kahuna Keith).

Let me know what you think!

Keith 

His book was actually rated by one organization as the best self-help book of the year. 

The Purpose Of Life

You ask, Alex, what is the purpose of life, as you've heard so many.

This is the purpose of life:


THE PURPOSE OF LIFE ITSELF


Is This The Purpose Of Life?

"The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best which is within us."
-- Marianne Williamson, Author and Spiritual Activist


Is the purpose actually “growth”, “to become our best given our talents”?

Or is that a “means to the ends”?

To find out if something is “the end”, one simply might ask after “growth” is specified as the purpose, the simple question “well, why have that? Or “In order to have what?” When one can no longer come up with an answer to that question, one has reached the “end”?

So, why grow?

So that we can be wise and knowledgeable enough to get the good things from life more.

So, what are those good things?

Appreciating life, seeing how great it is, a greater ability to love and express oneself, and such.

So, why do you want those?

So I can be happier.

(If one asked at this point, why do you want to happier, one would begin to get circular answers, such as “so I can feel better”, which is actually part of being happier.”)

From all I’ve read and after thinking about it quite a bit, I throw my vote in with The Dalai Lama:

“The purpose of life is happiness.”

_________

This website is therefore dedicated to contribute to what ultimately enhances happiness and/or to reduce what detracts from happiness. It is my belief that we can achieve an underlying happiness that is unconditional and stays with us even when there is actual pain – and that we can actually be happy 95++% of the time.

http://www.thelifemanagementalliance.com/