I’ve always been a bit of a humbug when it comes to “personal development”, happiness fluff and life-changing inspirational yaddayadda…
That’s because i’ve known for a long time that all these damn lists, personal improvement systems and anti-systems, productivity tips, self-righteous self-help gurus and on and on are mostly just more noise added to the online eco-system of “average” — more stuff to read and follow, more stuff to “TRY” when really you should be out there cutting your teeth and “DOING.” I’ll talk a bit more on my own experience with this, but first let’s get to the point:
There ARE a number of exceptions to the rule of general mediocrity and fluff online…
One of the true stand-outs is Seth Godin. It’s been remarkable for me to watch Seth in recent years, as he dives deeper and deeper into his own real natural genius. His short, brilliant, and to the point 14-page manifesto, Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself is indispensable for anyone who’s struggling to change the world, grasp their own genius, and stand in their greatest personal power. Continue reading →
Giving thanks today — for life — for freedom — for fearlessness…
To Live — to live as though each day, each moment, each passing hour is a blessing, and an opportunity to live a great life, a life in full volition and command of my personal power, but with reverence for the unknowable. That, I believe, is a good life, a life well lived…
Live Your Life
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their views, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a stranger if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
I came across this beautiful site today, Chai Pilgrimage and the quoted post and images below, due to the ineffable blogging of the strange and endearing world-tribe leader of inspired marketing, Seth Godin, and his quirky daily blog.
I loved imagining thousands of people descending on this quaint and unassuming (hyper-targeted, and totally lovable) blog by two wonderfully endearing devotees of Chai and, one of my own beloved great uncles, Neem Karoli Baba Maharaji, the joyful and lovable mystic made famous by Ram Dass, writer of the classic and essential book on enlightenment, yoga and conscious living, Remember, Be Here Now (which i was in no small way surprised to see was ranked at #3,073 in sales volume among ALL books on amazon at the time of this writing, which is no small feat, but is probably not that surprising considering the way things are changing in the world these days, and of course how brilliant and lovable the book is. But i digress…
I’m going to make this short and sweet, so you can look at the pretty pictures
Do what your heart calls you to do, and do it with all your heart. Then follow your inspiration and your joy in pursuing that calling, and try not to be shy! The world wants to hear what you have to say, and we NEED to hear what you have to say, because we’re human. If it’s not out there, we definitely won’t be able to find out about it - then how can we derive the great joy you may like us to derive out of it.
No doubt, when you follow this time-tested principle you WILL have a wonderful life - if not necessarily on the time schedule you’d ideally like it to arrive. Just trust and try to have faith, and let the small triumphs keep you moving forward.
Just remember the Chai Wallah - hyper-focused to bring excellence and service, so proud of his/her small contribution to the benefit of humankind, and so humbly working at their trade with little regard for the opinions of others. There is a recipe for a good life.
That’s all. Hope to see you around these parts again soon!
A wallah is one who performs a specific task. A rickshaw wallah drives the rickshaw, a dhobi wallah washes clothes and chai wallahs, you guessed it, they make chai. Chai wallahs are everywhere in India.Everywhere. From busy urban street corners to hidden alleyways, at bus depots and railway platforms and walking through the train car, along riversides and on footpaths that lead to pilgrimage sites in the middle of nowhere — when you need a fresh cup of tea, the chai wallah is always near.
Chai wallahs take pride in their chai. After all, each and every day, it is their responsibility to sustain and nurture the masses by providing the beverage that keeps India running.
A lot of my time and effort lately has been focused on new design projects with my web company @ iEnvision Media. I’ve got some exciting new stuff i’m working on and things coming up - including a redesign and re-purposing of this site and the Happiness Project itself to better reflect my current focus and approach (and what’s actually going on in the world today!)
If you want to stay posted sign on to the list here. I only send out stuff when i feel i have something to share that will really benefit you, and generally not more than twice a month. (And of course, it always rocks the universe )
I’ll be releasing some new material and video content soon, and some other super-secret awesome stuff too. (Sign up now if you want to be on the insider’s list…)
I recently sorta fell in love with Twitter, so follow me there if you’re game, and i also just created a new LinkedIn profile too (finally!).
I hope all is well with you as you read this. I really recommend you read the post below. This has been the key to my recent ‘liberation’ so-to-speak.
Take care and keep in touch and send me a shout any time!
- Satya
ps in case you’re wondering about the significance of the image, that’s actually a bunch of uncut diamonds…
This simple and powerful energy clearing meditation practice - inspired by the shamanic path of the Luminous Warrior - draws on a number of ancient wisdom teachings I have learned and practiced over the past 10-15 years.
For many years I struggled with the unbearable feeling of not being able to achieve my goals and actually have success in my life, while watching people all around me take huge leaps and bounds and achieve their dreams and goals. The inability to orchestrate and achieve the goals and success you envision for your life, and the dark and hopeless experience that invariably accompanies that, is often a result of energetic interference from embedded thought forms, belief systems and traumatic imprints from the past, as well as negative energies and energetic entities that jam the system and cloud the mind. Once a system of effective energy clearing is firmly established, you are free to reap the vast rewards of living in accordance with your true life purpose.
Energy clearing in this way forms a direct path to connecting to your higher self power and enabling that universal life force to manifest on your behalf. This elemental force is akin to the breath of life which flows within all living beings, and will help clear the obstacles to achieving your life goals when called upon and embodied within you. It is one of the core practices - in various forms - of most, if not all, of the great ancient wisdom traditions, and an essential practice for anyone who is serious about fulfilling their life purpose, and living in their highest personal power.
One thing I’ve been noticing about these times we’re living in - so many people are focusing on VALUE! “How far can i push my dollar to perform - or how can i get more out of each and every experience.” There’s so much re-evaluating and really considering every detail - it’s wonderful! As a result, business are upping the ante on the service and value they offer, and people are really looking at what’s important in their lives.
At the same time, looking at our balance sheets and the global economic ’situation’ there’s this tendency to retract into fear, insecurity, and selfishness, or just wanting to crawl into a cave and hide. I’m suggesting exactly the opposite - grow and expand yourself - give love and give yourself generously! Share your joy with the world, and focus on growing your business, or your talent, or whatever your gifts are that really bring you joy in sharing.
So, we have this marvelous opportunity to really evaluate what are the most important elements of our lives, re-prioritize, simplify our lives and cut out all the extraneous junk. We also have the chance to really live according to our purpose and our personal joy in this life.
So, here’s my basic 3-step Micro plan for living joyfully, effectively and in the presence of your personal power in this very moment. Make a deal with your self: Continue reading →
In the continued theme of humor to brighten any day or night (and, yes, at the risk of appearing completely ridiculous and irrelevant) i bring to you “This Frog”, my all-time favorite childhood sesame street tune, via Kermit the number one frog. At the time, of course, I had no clue about the nod to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” - a correlation which makes it all the more brilliant now. If this doesn’t give you a laugh, i don’t know what will….
THIS FROG
This frog has to go his own way
This frog doesn’t care what the other frogs say
This frog wants to be happy, and this frog has to try
This frog is gonna make it or know the reason why
I’m not gonna sit here like some dumb old bump on a log
That isn’t me!
I’m gonna be this frog! Continue reading →
“God bless the United States of America…” Thus ended President Obama’s inauguration speech on this beautiful, monumental, and historic day. It’s a new day, and you can feel the change in the air - the hope - the excitement - the joy. We’ve waited a long time for this kind of change to come, and now more than ever is the hour. I noticed something particular in the ceremonies today, though, something which hearkened back to a simpler, humbler time, when going to church on Sundays was the norm and unmarried men over the age of 30 were shunned.
Now I’ve always had my own interpretation of what “God” signifies, but I thought that was sort of a bad word amongst the intelligent and otherwise well-educated folks, at the least something you kind of kept to yourself, or reserved for your intimate friends and family. Throughout the ceremonies of the day, though, I kept noticing the references, prayers and benedictions to God. Is “He” suddenly cool, or am I missing something? Continue reading →
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(which i was in no small way surprised to see was ranked at #3,073 in sales volume among ALL books on amazon at the time of this writing, which is no small feat, but is probably not that surprising considering the way things are changing in the world these days, and of course how brilliant and lovable the book is. But i digress…
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A lot of my time and effort lately has been focused on new design projects with my web company 
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