Category: People

In trying to think of something fitting to write about, to mark the passing of 2010 and the inception of 2011, I kept thinking about the meaning of happiness, then when I was searching WikiQuotes to read some inspired thoughts about happiness, I came across this simple and brilliant quote:

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
• Mahatma Gandhi

Interesting to note, that one of Gandhi’s greatest admirers was Albert Einstein, he talked and wrote about Gandhi often, even stating in an interview that he thought Gandhi was the greatest Politician of our time, and that we ought to adopt more of Gandhi’s policies. While I searching a little deeper, I came across one of the most spiritual quotes from Einstein that I’ve ever read, and once I grasped it, I knew this is what I wanted to share for my New Year message.

In 1950 Albert Einstein wrote the following profound nugget of knowledge, then nearly 20 years after his death, it was published in the New York Times, and again the same year in the New York Post. My wish for 2011 is that Einstein’s idea will manifest itself on our planet, in a faster and greater way, maybe as a peaceful cultural-revolution. I believe that we all have within us, enormous capacity to change (for the better), and it’s just a matter of awakening, to what needs to happen. Let’s make it happen!

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. ~ Albert Einstein

Letter of 1950, as quoted in The New York Times (29 March 1972) and The New York Post (28 November 1972). Source: WikiQuotes

Mark Joyner is one of the Guru’s of on-line marketing. For me, one thing that makes Mark interesting is that he does his own thing and lives his life the way he sees fit, whereas many of the U.S. based Internet marketing experts require the approval of the other Guru’s, so in the end you have a pack-mentality, where one product launch becomes the product du-jour for the entire pack. Maybe some, or all, of these new products (now mostly coaching programs) have value but it’s dubious when the inbox fills up with “last-chance, don’t miss-out” recommendations.

The other thing I like about the approach of Mark Joyner is that it’s Simple, as in Simple-ology, and he has a way of consistently making his message fun to read.

Today I found a free course about Blogging that I decided to try:

Here’s some words of wisdom from Alexander Graham Bell, a renowned scientist and inventor. In 1876, at the age of 29, he invented the telephone.

“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion… It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider – and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation – persevering in what he knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.”

It turns out that my Mom is born in the year of the pig, so we’ve been writing back and forth to share little things we’ve learned about this auspicious year. Now an Asian friends from Vancouver informed me that Chinese people are excited because we’re entering the “Year of the Golden Pig” and it only happens every 60 or so years.

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This morning I watched a chilling report on BBC World about how websites and the Internet are used to promote and recruit for global Islamic terror networks. Just writing about this topic makes me nervous because we’re such a networked world and the search engines pick up and connect every word, which is why I’ll avoid using any organization names or provide any web site locations. The power of the Internet to bring good into people’s lives has always been the focus of my attention, so much so that I neglected to think much about how the web was being used for evil.

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“The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.
When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin.
When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come.
Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.”
-Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC)

Especially pertinent to people in the on-line gaming industry that enjoy travel to, or living in USA.