Like you, life has tugged me this way and that. I have had moments of doubt, exhaustion and uncertainty that fortunately always lead me back to what always is… a certain knowing that happiness and creating a contented meaningful life is an inside job and, most important, is possible regardless of our circumstances. I know this is a bold statement when we are hammered by a recession, catastrophic disasters make the headlines, and other detours from the potential of happiness abound.

My tenacity and committed intention relentlessly calls me to reveal the evidence and to shine light on the power of accepting what is seen through the lens of purpose, hope, joy, and common ground. I attempt through Drive Yourself Happy, Center of Happiness, and all my related work to provide spiritual nourishment and vision, inspire personal evolution and greater decisiveness, bump us into meaningful and bold action, and provide a community container to question, heal, explore and share as we evolve.

An many of you know, for now my life is devoted to the healing journey of my grandson from autism. Did you know that one in 71 children are found to be on the autistic spectrum? An growing reality of epidemic proportions. Still, I am grateful for Brody’s autism. That sounds crazy, I know. Don’t get me wrong, autism is difficult, relentless, slow and expensive journey.But it has awakened us to how broken our Mother Earth is and the needs for change of her inhabitants. It challenges all I hold as truth and forces me to question my very essence for being. And yet it provides such opportunity for me and for us all to declare what happiness really is and who we really are on our journey through life.

The journey is not about answering all the ‘unanswered questions’ in order to be happy, but to ‘question all answers’. It demands that we clean up our limited thinking by becoming more fully who we are and more accepting and responsible for accepting of what is.

Autism wears me out and distracts me from so many other things, and yet when I allow myself to be a student rather than a crusader, it teaches me beyond a shadow of a doubt that even amidst circumstances like these, happiness is possible…. no, happiness just IS situations like these in its purest  and rawest form. Perhaps it lives in times like these with even greater authenticity. So on the days I can keep that in mind, I welcome the uncomfortable nudge to greater clarity.

In my grandson’s apparent inability to connect and express emotions in the ways we we hold as important it has sparked my curiosity and caused me to question what I have blindly accepted. Somehow there is a key gift hidden here in his unanticipated world about the power of redefining our ability to wonder, listen, tolerate, celebrate, and expand our ability to recognize happiness in the most unlikely places. Those who become flexible with change will thrive.

Autism isn’t easy to befriend and leaves very little room for the writing, speaking, and work that I love. It has challenged me financially and has been reshaping and deepening me for some form of sharing and service yet to be fully revealed. Occasionally, and usually when I have no energy left, I am able to grab my computer and blog. When I can, I capture and post an insight or two that tugs at me or touches me as being of value on the journey of living a joy-filled life, no matter what.

The journey of happiness is not a destination, but a way of traveling. There are no answers, but rather insights, I dare to share my ponderings not as an expert, but as a sister traveler.  I express my dreams and intentions in the presence of this creative and talented loving community an act of holding myself accountable.

Even though it seems I have none, thank God Einstein shows us that there is really no such thing as the limits of time and space. Brody, my grandson, teaches me that love and happiness exist on that crack in ‘time’ where our past memories no longer are and where the anticipation of an unknown future not yet lived reside. When I am present here, life is always good and hopeful.

So, it is my intention to up my authenticity a notch and take happiness deeper by sharing my curiosity whenever my heart calls me to, rather than when ‘time’ allows. It is funny how Brody’s recovery process from autism fosters not only his healing, but my own.

Whether in our families, our communities, or our global efforts, those on the road of creating sustainable happiness don’t really have answers, yet we lose sleep trying to ‘figure out’ all the world’s problems’. Life is a messy process, and though the wheels in our minds can spin out of control from time to time (or dare I say most of the time?), we know it is our real work to not work so hard and to become more comfortable with the questions. This will allow happiness to find us.

The questions, at least for me, become scary if left unacknowledged. They just ping around in my head. So, inspired by my grandkids, I will us my Drive Yourself Happy/Center of Happiness platform to ask all my questions and wonder out loud, trusting that your wonderings and questions are similar.

This year I commit more fully to nurture the birth of happiness from the inside out. I will ask for input and help, trusting that there are angels and miracle-makers everywhere. I will more fully expose my real self, questions, doubts and all and with all my rough edges, hoping that it inspires you to do the same. We are a reflection of one another, after all, and I know I am in good company traveling with those who have a sense that happiness is sustainable and self-generated. I am committed to share my journey, warts and all, happy for all there is to be grateful for regardless of the bumps along the way.

We need not wait to be grateful when we are happy. We are happy because we are grateful.

The root meaning of prosperity is ‘hopeful’ and ‘full of possibility’.

For you, for your support of me and the value you find in my work, I am grateful, prosperous and happy.

So, that’s a bit about my Womanifesto, what’s your’s? Please share…

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we’re left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.

I hope you find as much value in it as I do.

Their 4th grade class goal was to understand how to be happy and care for other people. It sounds like the sort of class we all would find beneficial given we find ourselves so over-stressed and over-worked.

Instead of writing my own reflections on happiness, I encourage you to take the time to watch all five segments of CHILDREN FULL OF LIFE.  Especially if you don’t have the time, it will be time well spent.

If you make the time you will have the privilege of watching a different and heart-felt teaching approach than most grammar teacher’s take in Tokyo… no, around the world. May we all be touched by the valuable lessons he offers his students and take his wisdom into our own hearts and actions.

Start by watch the first of five segments below. See how Toshiro Kanamori teaches his pupils to understand their inner thoughts and teaches them about the power of love, compassion, binding, and sustainable joy..

Joy-fully,

Rhonda

A TUNE UP GUIDE to DRIVE YOURSELF HAPPY:

Questions to Catch Your Blind Spots, Tune Your Engine, Recharge Your Battery, Fill Up Your Tank, and Stay On Course on Your Road of Happiness

Directions:

As a regular tune-up tool, ask yourself one or all of these questions regularly, especially when you get stuck or detoured. From your answers, create a list of manageable and measurable authentic action steps to chart your course and ensure an enjoyable journey. Move forward, through your fear and resistance, and choose your attitude. Regular tune-ups insure that what’s under the hood continues to operate in a way that you can be happy regardless of the circumstances.

On the Road of Principles, Values and Beliefs:

~ What are my bottom line principles, values and beliefs that I want to use as the compass for my life?

• What is their order of importance?
• Which one(s) do I need to focus on and recommit to currently to be on a path of purpose and happiness?
• Where and how can I have my words and actions match to reflect these values more consistently?
• Can I do this willingly, recognizing that although I cannot choose my circumstances I can choose my perspective?
• What places am I out of balance, detouring down the wrong road or wasting energy?
• Where can I adjust to regain balance and get my tires back in alignment?
• What small adjustments in my direction am I willing to make at this time?
• What mistakes of my own or others do I need to forgive to be present now?

On the Road of Choice:

• Am I willing to no longer be a back seat driver of life, judging and blaming others, and telling them what to do?
• What small step can I take in each major area of my life to get back on course?
• How will I celebrate and acknowledge small victories?
• What specific things have I been avoiding and procrastinating about?
• Am I willing to strive for excellence, not perfection?
• Am I willing to see mistakes as opportunities to learn?
• What mistakes have I made recently?
• What have I learned and am willing to apply?
• Am I willing to no longer live in reverse, wasting energy reliving my mistake?

On the Road of Purpose:

• What are my deepest and most heartfelt desires, and creative vision if I believed I could not fail?
• Where am I off purpose and why?
• What are the deep and meaningful things that I have been afraid to ask for?
• What do I believe would happen to me if I did not get what I want?
• What do I feel would happen if I did get what I want?
• What are my ten-year goals? Five year? One year? One month? Today?
• Where do I need to clarify my goals and take action?
• Am I willing to be committed AND flexible?
• Where are places and ways that I can acknowledge my talents, and give them for the joy of giving rather than expecting anything in return?
• How can I create a greater sense of meaning in my life today?
• What are simple pleasures I overlook?
• What are ways that I can develop my intuition and deepen my sense of inner listening?
• List the ten greatest pieces of wisdom or insights that I know.

On the Road of Happiness and Peace:

• When do I feel the greatest happiness in my life?
• What can I do to have more fun in all areas of my life?
• What is the first thing I think and say each day?
• What is the way I end my day?
• Am I asking for what I want?
• Am I listening for the answer, willing to receive it regardless of its form?
• Am I willing to look for the blessing in even the greatest challenges?
• Am I aware when I drift from present moment thinking?
• What way do I bring myself back to center?
• What daily steps am I willing to take not to have greater peace, clarity, balance, congruence and happiness in my life.
• When can I develop greater compassion and better genuine listening?
• How can I be more authentic?
• What activities lead me to greater stillness and confidence?
• If love is the answer to any question, what questions in my life need to be answered with love?

On the Road of Love, Acceptance, and Acknowledgment:

• Where am I going in reverse in blame, guilt, regrets or judgments, wasting time or distracting myself from what is truly important now?
• What are the old beliefs, excuses, or self-criticism I use to keep me stuck in the mud?
• Where have I detoured from positive and loving thoughts?
• What misbeliefs am I willing to adjust at this time.
• What is my greatest fear(s)?
• Is the FEAR a False Expectation Appearing Real?
• Where do I feel vulnerable, hurt, or a victim of life?
• What stresses me?
• Where do I see myself as inadequate and not like myself?
• Am I willing to commit to seeing myself as adequate and loving?
• How do I perceive my strengths as weaknesses?
• What major roadblocks need to be resolved?
• What ways can I step back into the driver’s seat?

On the Road of a New Perspective:

• What are my expectations for myself? What is my purpose?
• What is my personal definition for success?
• Where do I hold myself back?
• Am I willing to change my direction?
• What are the expectations of others that I am driven and detoured by? Boss? Work? Spouse? Parents? Friends?
• Do I have supportive traveling companions on the road of life at work, at home, and with friends?
• If not, why?
• What steps am I willing to take to choose supportive traveling companions.
• How can I improve my communication and inter-personal skills?
• In what ways am I not speaking up and not being honest?
• What run away negative or limiting thoughts or judgments keep steering me off course?
• What key choices am I ready to make to choose my own gear and direction?

I don’t know about you, but I long for a rest when life remains full with relentless demands. Details are falling through the cracks as I attempt to pull off the impossible, managing way too much.

Sometimes we just can’t stop. We can’t change the circumstances and what we resist, persists. So what can we do at times like these to maintain joy during challenging times?

1.       Allow room for support and ask for help: I may be dating myself, but when things get tough, (women especially) we tend to go “Lone Ranger.”  Although there is benefit in being resilient and knowing you can do it alone if necessary, too often we push away offers of help or never speak up to give someone the satisfaction of offering to help by lightening our load. Freely ask, however don’t take it personally if someone cannot be helpful when you need it. We are all juggling. Collaboration and mutual support is key to sustaining happiness. Stretch your muscles and do what you can, but don’t hesitate asking for help and support. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!

2.       Find a REST AREA: We have long applauded hard work, however, like a muscle in your arm, in order to gain strength and stamina it is best to rest it from time to time, otherwise it will fatigue and become useless. It is necessary to take respite, even if only a deep breath here or there, or a nap of renewal. Perhaps a walk in stillness, or even two minutes hiding in the bathroom alone! This is necessary to prevent burnout and give you the chance to find your joy that got lost along the way.

3.       Love your body:  Far more often we judge and push our body rather than honor and appreciate it for all the ways it serves us. Listen to the messages it offers you. Do you need a drink of water or a lunch break. Is your back hurting and your knees aching, reminding you to adjust your posture? Do you have a headache from bending your neck holding the phone rather than grabbing your ear-piece? Are you forgetting to take deep breaths, signaling that you are stressed? Let your body offer direction for the journey. By honoring your body, it can help you get further down the road.

4.       Give Up and Let go: I don’t mean ‘Give Up’ to mean surrendering in defeat. I mean “Give Up’ to a Source bigger than you and trust that there is a perspective not revealed to you yet, demanding trust that the unknown brings something wonderful, perhaps not in the form you imagined. Hold on with a lose grip so you can be more flexible on the journey. Holding on too tight you will feel every bump and make the road harder than it needs to be.

5.       Be Brain-washed and Get out of your head: Let go of dwelling on the negative and expecting the worst. Our life is created by the quality of out thoughts. Stop the worry wheel. Find the choice point in each situation and choose joy. It is much more fun to be happy than right. Adjust the  quality of your thoughts and expand your ability to trust your own intuition. There is a trustworthy voice within that draws on a greater strength that is generated and nourished by your spirit and passion.

6.       Get into nature:  In some places, nature is a challenge to find. However, even if only briefly, unhook from the news, T.V. emails, cell phones and the clamors of a demanding world. Find a park. Notice the clouds in the sky. Smell a flower. Watch a snail shuttle it’s way slowly across the side walk, and allow yourself to be fascinated by simple pleasures.

7.       Connect with Spirit and Listen Within: There is a bigger picture we cannot fully imagine. Faith allows us to surrender to life being a co-created experience, trusting an energy and intelligence far bigger than we know. Although you may resist,  make it a priority to have time to be still, meditate, journal, or pray. Be curious about life being a spiritual adventure and listen within for trustworthy guidance. Transform the worry, fear, and doubt and listen more than you attempt to micro-manage and control life. After all, control is only an illusion.

8.   Forgive Yourself: Love yourself as much as you love others. Be patient of your shortcomings and suspend judgements of yourself as well as others. We are all doing our best with the consciousness we have. Life is messy, always a teacher, and a glorious mystery. To expand your consciousness and create sustainable happiness remember that choice is a powerful tool, so apply it to have fun and to take full accountability and responsibility for your own joy.

Happy Trails,
Rhonda

Paul Hawken

My dear friend, Ann, sent this to me, and I thought it was worth posting!!!

The Unforgettable Commencement Address to the Class of 2009, University of Portland, May 3rd, 2009??By Paul Hawken

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” Boy, no pressure there.

But let’s begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation – but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, and don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seat belts, lots of room in coach, and really good food – but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING. The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.?

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet Adrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description. Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.

You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers, children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns, artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students, incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets, doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the President of the United States of America, and as the writer David James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such a huge way.

There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending and the Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is true. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice,” is Mary Oliver’s description of moving away from the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the living world.

Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers, even if the evening news is usually about the death of strangers. This kindness of strangers has religious, even mythic origins, and very specific eighteenth-century roots. Abolitionists were the first people to create a national and global movement to defend the rights of those they did not know. Until that time, no group had filed a grievance except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely unknown – Granville Clark, Thomas Clarkson, Josiah Wedgwood – and their goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four people in the world were enslaved. Enslaving each other was what human beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists as liberals, progressives, do-gooders, meddlers, and activists. They were told they would ruin the economy and drive England into poverty. But for the first time in history a group of people organized themselves to help people they would never know, from whom they would never receive direct or indirect benefit.. And today tens of millions of people do this every day. It is called the world of non-profits, civil society, schools, social entrepreneurship, and non-governmental organizations, of companies who place social and environmental justice at the top of their strategic goals. The scope and scale of this effort is unparalleled in history.

The living world is not “out there” somewhere, but in your heart. What do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus, life creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think of no better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands of abandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandoned people without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.

The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuries ago, and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams. Literally you are breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastly interconnected. Our fates are inseparable. We are here because the dream of every cell is to become two cells. In each of you are one quadrillion cells, 90 percent of which are not human cells. Your body is a community, and without those other microorganisms you would perish in hours. Each human cell has 400 billion molecules conducting millions of processes between trillions of atoms. The total cellular activity in one human body is staggering: one septillion actions at any one moment, a one with twenty-four zeros after it. In a millisecond, our body has undergone ten times more processes than there are stars in the universe – exactly what Charles Darwin foretold when he said science would discover that each living creature was a “little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars of heaven.”

So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body? Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. Second question: who is in charge of your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully not a political party. Life is creating the conditions that are conducive to life inside you, just as in all of nature. What I want you to imagine is that collectively humanity is evincing a deep innate wisdom in coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television.

This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, challenging, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hopefulness only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.

I selectively endorse books, however this one is worth you taking a look.

We all know that minds create and most of us put a lot of energy into positive thinking. Why then are we living in such troubling times? Today I bring you information that is vital for living truly free lives, where we are in control and can once again create our ideal life.

I am writing about my friend and colleague, Eldon Taylor and his brand new book, Mind Programming: From Persuasion and Brainwashing to Self-Help and Practical Metaphysics. This is simply a must-read book! This message is so important that many of the world’s visionaries, myself included, have joined together to support this book launch.

View the trailer for Mind Programming:

CLICK HERE

As you read this book, you’ll feel the blinders being removed and you will truly see the world in an entirely new light.
Jeff Warrick, – documentary filmmaker, Programming the Nation?

Eldon bares the facts, exposing the groups ranging from media types to governmental agencies that have spent billions of dollars learning how to surreptitiously gain access to your thoughts, your motivations and your
choices. See for yourself in the ’smoking gun’ of advertising manuals, in the secret clandestine work of governmental agencies, in the neuro-technology labs of the sellers of goods and services. You will be shocked and horrified at the extent a few have gone to shape every aspect of your thinking, and this programming goes on everyday!

Brainwashing and marketing are big business; and your precious mind is a coveted commodity. In this book Eldon Taylor exposes all and tells you how to take your power back and be free to become your own best self. Eldon is a
grand master of the mind.

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. – author of Your Soul’s Compass
More details:  CLICK HERE

Mind Programming is really two books in one. The first half of the book is the tell-all story that uncovers the unseen influences that are so pervasive, penetrating and effective. The second half of the book is all about the tools and technologies you can use to cleanse your mind of the non-sense you may not have even recognized as being present before reading this liberating book. Think about it.  How many original thoughts do you really have? How many thoughts are about your limitations, your fears, your anxieties, the things you want, and so forth. You will learn that from sickness and anxiety to the way you comb your hair and dress, and so much more, are all a part of what you have been trained to think and choose. You will also learn some very simple easy-to-use tools that can free your mind and empower your being.

In a period when fear has reached a frenzied pitch, Taylor shines a brilliant spotlight to dispel the darkness!
Angelina Heart – author of The Teaching of Little Crow

Even if you already have some awareness of the everyday mind manipulation techniques, and are already guarding against these intrusions, there will be areas you simply have not heard of. Even if none of this information is of interest to you because you are already guarding the input into your minds, you will be thankful to finally have the facts, figures and hard evidence to present to your family and friends, so they too can escape from the everyday brainwashing. But Eldon does not leave it there as he also covers numerous tools and techniques to assist you in taking back the control of your mind. These tools range from exercises that will not cost you a penny, such as the ‘50-day plan,’ automatic writing, and mind exercises, to high tech (but affordable) tools such as cortical electro stimulation. Whatever your preference, Mind Programming will provide you with the information vital for today’s climate. — PLUS: Mind Programming ships with a free, high-tech, mind-training CD, that utilizes the patented and proven InnerTalk technology.

More details: CLICK HERE

Even though I consider myself to be quite aware of what is going on in the world, this book boldly shatters illusions about how extensive the mind control in our society has become. Are you really free? Only if you can take back control your mind. Thank heavens, Dr. Taylor shows us how in one of the most important books I have ever read.
Terri Marie – author of Be the Hero of Your Own Game

More details: CLICK HERE

I am so excited about this new book because I know it can really make a powerful difference in your life. That is why I have joined with many visionaries in offering special bonus incentives when you get your copy today.  When you purchase your copy of Mind Programming, you will:

1) Have a chance to win 2 tickets to a Hay House conference. Everyone who orders Mind Programming between May 19th and June 17th can enter to win a trip to the I CAN DO IT Conference in Tampa, Florida where Eldon will be appearing in November. (Trip includes 2 full conference tickets, hotel accommodations, and round-trip domestic coach airfare).

2) Be entered to win Eldon’s finest success library, Your Personal Best, featuring 28 programs on 20 CDs; all using the patented and proven InnerTalk technology. This is a $599 value.

3) Attend a free pre-screening of Jeff Warrick’s mind-blowing documentary, Programming The Nation.

4) Gain free membership to Eldon’s Mind Matters community, where you will find numerous gifts valued at over $5000. These gifts are all yours for acting today and getting your copy of Mind Programming. Pick up all your gifts today, or come back once you have read Mind Programming – the choice is yours. Take your time and enjoy exploring the best tools available. Try them for free and decide for yourself what works best for you! These gifts
come to you from almost 300 supporters including Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Marci Shimoff, Joan Borysenko, Judith Orloff, and Bruce Lipton.

PLUS: For every book sold during this event, Eldon will be donating all of his author proceeds to Women for Women International, an award-winning non-profit organization. Women for Women provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.

So don’t hesitate, act now and get your copy today.

It’s only your mind if you manage what goes into it, otherwise it is analogous to a computer that the world has read and write access to.

Eldon Taylor – author of Choices and Illusions and Mind Programming

ACT NOW

Joy-fully,

Rhonda

I’ve done it again. I’ve decided again to look for happiness in unlikely places.

As many of you know about three years ago I said “yes” when my grandnephew when at age 2 he was diagnosed with A. L. L. leukemia. I became a part of his hands-on circle of support as he maneuvered his way through a bone marrow transplant and months of horrific treatments. My work from the moment I got the news was for the most part put on hold in order to participate in his healing process. I am delighted to say that, except for a few challenges, he is doing well and just celebrated his 5th birthday!

After he returned to his home in Alaska, I began the journey of regaining the momentum I had gained with Drive Yourself Happy and my other work with Circle Connections when it became apparent that my own grandson was facing challenges with autism. How could I turn my back here? Despite the downward turning economy and my ever-dwindling savings, I decided to temporarily relocate from my beloved Post Townsend to Long Beach, CA to assist with Brody’s care.

A visit that we intended to be long enough to welcome Brody’s baby sister and arrange for him to get appropriate services has turned into months and an incredible biomedical approach to his healing as well as a off-putting obstacle course with the school district , insurance, and medical systems. Sound familiar to some of you?

For whatever reason I was called to say “yes” once again and become an active advocate for Brody, just as I did for my grandnephew, Connor. In my heart and against all logic, I feel called to be here for these children who act as “canaries in the gold mind” to alert us what is needed to heal our earth, our environment, our health-care system, our bodies, and out way of being with one another.

Last month was Autism Awareness Month. Since we fully leaped beyond denial to understand and accept that Brody had this disorder that is now affecting 1 of every 60 children, I have learned so much, and yet have only scratched the surface. Exhausted but invested, I know it is my calling to be of help in any way I can, trusting that the way and the means would be revealed.

Still committed to the belief that happiness is possible regardless of even these circumstances, I have decided to share the knowns and unknows of the step I take, clear that there are many faced with such challenges who might benefit from my revelations and feel less alone because I am willing to share my fear along the way.

And so this will be the first of many updates I will share with you as I prepare to head off in June to the Autism Treatment Center of America’s Son-Rise Program for a 5 day intensive training to set up a home based child centered program specific to Brody’s needs.

Ready. Fire. Aim. Deep breath. Lean with faith.

Life is a group participation experience. There are over six billion of us walking around this planet and it seems unreasonable to think we are meant to manage life alone. No one need feel isolated if only we dare to reach out to one another. And yet, connection does little if it remains superficial and meaningless or only practiced if self-serving.

We must dare, not only to connect, but also, in order to have the peace we all long for we must learn to be kind.

But has kindness become obsolete? Have we become too busy and numb that we have forgotten how to be compassionate with one another? Life is messy and now moves at such a hurried pace.

Too many men have forgotten the power that comes from tenderness and slowing to truly listen, and too many women have abandoned their authentic nature to survive in the fast paced and competitive game that has long been played by men. Standing elbow to elbow we have somehow created separation by forgetting that control is an illusion, perfection is fleeting, excellence is possible, and love is the answer to every question.

Maya Angelou, a modern day wise women and poet shares her perspective that “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant!” The curves and angles of our nature have remained at odds and have become harsh and resistant to change. We have forfeited our caring and collaboration in order to conform to the speed of life and meet the expectations imposed by others. When busy on the hamster wheel of life where we appear to be making such good time, it is tempting to not to look beyond our feet to ask ourselves “Where are we going? “What do we really want?” and “Who can we help along the way?” Under this pressure we have gotten distracted, living life from the outside in rather than from our insight-out. Meanwhile, what we focus on expands, and we wonder why life isn’t flowing and we feel empty and alone.

There is a growing sense that something has to give. It is time to imagine new possibilities and to blend the paradigms in a fresh and mutually wonderful way. The hard edge of dominance and pressure we have created no longer serves us. We hear the whisper, the ache, calling to redesign our way of being with one another in a more joyful way, reclaim our authentic voice, and reshape our compassionate nature in order to make the difference that is longed for in this hurting world.

is not always easy, and yet essential to our peace. We must learn to trust ourselves again, treat one another with respect, and realize the potential that can be born from a sense of ‘power-with’ rather than ‘power over’. It is women who by nature tend and befriend to manage stress and who know that force is not necessary in order make our way through life.

It is men who are not fully given permission to let this gentle side of them be revealed. Now it seems we are called to embrace and allow new possibilities to emerge. It is by stretching to stand in the shoes of another feeling what they feel from their perspective and by listening beyond their words without judgment that will allow happiness to find us, fill us, and offers a path to peace.

We will not always get to know when we have made a difference, and such small gestures of kindness may feel insignificant. How can a simple smile matter so much? Perhaps we have opened the door for someone who just learned they lost their job. Maybe we let someone cut in line that was anxious to get home to his or her ailing elderly mother. Or perhaps we picked up the ‘binky’ or toy just out of reach of that mom who was sleep deprived and on the verge of taking her stress out on her innocent toddler.

Even if not one of our made up conclusions are true, we must pretend as if they are and act as if it serves a greater good. Ah, civility. It’s like a balm of healing on our weary spirits. We must be kind merely to be kind if deep happiness and peace on this earth is our true intention.

So, how might we extend simple kindnesses to expand possibilities, for ourselves, and others? Just start today and make kindness a practice. Notice places and ways to offer simple kindnesses and you will find that kindness is good medicine, not only for the recipient, but also, for our own soul.

Funny how it works, but to give is to receive… and to give anyway without insurance of a return on our investment is an even greater gift. It’s possible. It’s even fun. Give willingly and receive beyond your wildest imagination. Rest assured, in ways beyond your awareness, you have been a part of a miracle.