Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership

It’s official, I’m bigger than Oprah. (no, really, keep reading!)

Everyday Bliss For Busy Women finished out its birthday at #142 overall in General Books on Amazon.com, up from its starting number of 8,978. Wow. That’s a better than 8,000-fold increase in less than 24 hours. Pretty hot, I’m telling you what.  Everyday Bliss also finished #2 in Women’s Health on Amazon.com (!) and #5 in Personal Transformation, just above Eckhart Tolle’s Oprah’s Book Club choice "A New Earth" at #6 and just below the venerable Dale Carnegie’s "How To Win Friends and Influence People" at #4.

For a few brief shining moments, my book was number two and rose gracefully and with dignity, above the Oprah Book Club pick to sit at the feet of the all-wise and ever-chipper Mr. Carnegie. (and gee whiz, in company with Eckhart Tolle!) Hot holy bananacakes, Batman!

What a nice anniversary present. (yes, it was today as well) The Bear and I have been together for ten years this year. We’re still alive, still in love and still working on it as is fitting and proper. He thought this news above was the best anniversary present. It’s nice to have your partner proud of you.

And all this is illusion, is fancy, is ultimately, not important. Even though it is. Mr. Tolle was right on that front. And a lot of others. I’m just thrilled I was even if briefly, in his presence.   ;-)  Here’s the shot worth a thousand words, right here:

I rarely make political statements, but this is one I happen to think is important, and it’s not about people, it’s about the environment. It’s a good point they’re making along the lines of  an untutored person thinking "if one pill is good, five must be better" and killing themselves through ignorance.  Biofuels are great, but the authors of this newsletter Avaaz (see below) have a good point about green technology caveats. Vote your conscience…

Not all biofuels are bad–but without tough global standards, the biofuels boom will further undermine food security and worsen global warming. Click here to use our simple tool to send a message to your head of state before this weekend’s global summit on climate change in Chiba, Japan, and help build a global call for biofuels regulation:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/biofuel_standards_now/9.php?cl=60989106

Sometimes the trade-off is stark: filling the tank of an SUV with ethanol requires enough corn to feed a person for a year. But not all biofuels are bad; making ethanol from Brazilian sugar cane is vastly more efficient than US-grown corn, for example, and green technology for making fuel from waste is improving rapidly.

The problem is that the EU and the US have set targets for increasing the use of biofuels without sorting the good from the bad. As a result, rainforests are being cleared in Indonesia to grow palm oil for European biodiesel refineries, and global grain reserves are running dangerously low. Meanwhile, rich-country politicians can look "green" without asking their citizens to conserve energy, and agribusiness giants are cashing in. And if nothing changes, the situation will only get worse.

What’s needed are strong global standards that encourage better biofuels and shut down the trade in bad ones. Such standards are under development by a number of coalitions⁸, but they will only become mandatory if there’s a big enough public outcry. It’s time to move: this Friday through Saturday, the twenty countries with the biggest economies, responsible for more than 75% of the world’s carbon emissions⁹, will meet in Chiba, Japan to begin the G8’s climate change discussions. Before the summit, let’s raise a global cry for change on biofuels:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/biofuel_standards_now/9.php?cl=60989106

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

In a few minutes, I’ll be heading over to the Marin Center for the second day of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings on Life Purpose. Last night is still being processed, one more day or two and I should have a synthesis t o report. I can say that Tolle and The Dalai Lama have something in common: a puckish sense of good humor about humanity’s failings and delight in the world around them. I also noticed that Eckhart used a lot of sleight of mouth for the NLP’ers out there, with sentances to the effect of  "…this stream of consciousness is arising in you…NOW…" Excellent pacing and leading. More later. Words are truly ineffectual to convey the real meaning of the teachings which is found, as Tolle himself suggests, in the spaces between the words. In Stillness…

I just wrote the below to the folks taking the 12 Keys to Bliss class with us over at ECI and thought I’d share, as it really applies to all of us. I get the daily motivational niblet from TUT.COM. The messages come, "From the Universe" and they always touch or tickle me. This one though, my mom would have called a real pip. To wit:

"Gabriel, did you register Maryam Webster’s epiphany yesterday? Raise expectations on all human beings another 72 gigatrons, and tell not a soul."

How do you do that?
The Universe

It’s worthwhile to note that this message is sent out to everyone who signs up. This is one of the more fruitilicious ones, but it does have a point. How can we all:

• trust our inner senses
• trust the unseen
• stay present
• have piercing life insights and epiphanies
• do what we do for the highest good of all

Post a commment if you like. The folks in the 12 Keys course have been having a busy little dialogue about this in the ecampus, but I can’t share that with you here. You can however share your thoughts for others to read if you like. Just hit the button below and let us know: How would you feel if this message came to YOU, with your name on it, telling you that these things had already happened, were a foregone conclusion. What might the difference in your life be?

In my thinking for one, self-esteem would not be an issue. Neither would courage, bravery, personal strength or any of the other traits that people seem to have trouble with. This is a small subset of all the possible personal betterment practices. As a spiritual practice, this list above pretty much covers what a shaman, priest or priestess does. As spiritual teachers in our own lives, who are we when we have these skills native in us, and intact and functioning since birth?

In a future week, we’ll learn how to reinvent your early life to give you what you would like to have from birth onwards as skills, tools or other resources. And we’ll experience how our life changes in moments, and the different timeline that arises. Generally speaking, a much more copacetic timeline. Interested?

Your feelings on this would be lovely to read.

Warmly,
Maryam

‘TIPPING POINTS’ COULD COME THIS CENTURY

A number of key components of the earth’s climate system could pass their ‘tipping point’ this century, according to new research led by a scientist at the University of East Anglia. The collapse of the Indian monsoon season could happen as early as next year, followed in ten years by the complete melt of the Arctic sea ice and displacement of the West African monsoon season causing greening of the Sahara desert and Sahel border territories. The Sahel includes Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and the "Horn" of Africa.

Other events are hundreds of years in the future, and are increasingly worse in perspective. And may or may not be good.

Published today by the prestigious international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), the researchers have coined a new term, ‘tipping elements’, to describe those components of the climate system that are at risk of passing a tipping point.

The term ‘tipping point’ is used to describe a critical threshold at which a small change in human activity can have large, long-term consequences for the Earth’s climate system.

The nine tipping elements and the time it will take them to undergo a major transition are:

• Melting of Arctic sea-ice (approx 10 years)
• Decay of the Greenland ice sheet (more than 300 years)
• Collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet (more than 300 years)
• Collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (approx 100 years)
• Increase in the El Nino Southern Oscillation (approx 100 years)
• Collapse of the Indian summer monsoon (approx 1 year)
• Greening of the Sahara/Sahel and disruption of the West African monsoon (approx 10 years)
• Dieback of the Amazon rainforest (approx 50 years)
• Dieback of the Boreal Forest (approx 50 years)

These were the findings of lead author Prof Tim Lenton of the University of East Anglia (UEA) and colleagues at the Postdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (PIK), Carnegie Mellon University, Newcastle University and Oxford University.

The paper also demonstrates how, in principle, early warning systems could be established using real-time monitoring and modelling to detect the proximity of certain tipping points.

"Society must not be lulled into a false sense of security by smooth projections of global change," said Prof Lenton.

"Our findings suggest that a variety of tipping elements could reach their critical point within this century under human-induced climate change. The greatest threats are tipping of the Arctic sea-ice and the Greenland ice sheet, and at least five other elements could surprise us by exhibiting a nearby tipping point."

Read the original here: http://snipurl.com/9climatetippingpoint

I’m taking time off and have been enjoying myself with various creative projects. Today, I videoed a hurricane taking place outside my back door. The deluge was widely reported in various formats, but I got to hear of it when spouse banged on bedroom door in the wee hours, informing me that our beloved gazebo (where we host outdoor parties) had folded in upon itself, torn its moorings and was no more. And further, that it was reanimating post-death and crawling up the house, trying to gain the roof and freedom, beyond.

Here is my own local view of the Great San Francisco Bay Storm of Ought-Eight, including a relaxing freshly-recorded rain track for those of you who enjoy such things. There is bliss to be found in being outside, the only human being around, filling lungs full of cold air, the wonderful fresh ozone sweeping the cobwebs out of one’s head. The Mitties provided support by nestling against me when I came back in, the purr-buzzing of their hot, fluffed-out little bodies providing just the right dose of warmth and comfort. Right-click to download if you like…and keep your galoshes handy.

Join Us for a Festive and Transformative Holiday Party!

Date:
Monday, December 10, 2007

Call Time:
9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK

(To translate correct time for your area, check the Meeting Planner link at: www.timeanddate.com)

You’ll learn a technique never seen before…

You’re going to learn a special part of The Everyday Bliss Process -  how to make situations, memories, even objectionable family members bearable and even blissful for the holidays…and onward. This technique is a blend you’ve never experienced before - no one has. And it will be yours from now on.

But there’s also a higher purpose to this telegathering.

"The opportunity for us to grow exponentially as individuals  and community is already present."

Many people are feeling the pull towards a new dimension of being, thought, and freedom from limitation. 

How will you leverage this  opportunity as an individual? As a member of a community?  

And how can you maximize your growth while remaining relaxed, present and in bliss?

Let’s discover how together, using what we’ll learn on this call.

We will be discussing precepts rooted in the teachings of Abraham-Hicks, Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer and The Dalai Lama on how to remain Present when all around you dissolves in chaos. And further, on how to use that chaos as a personal  path to Bliss.

Note:  If you’ve never registered for one of our calls before, you’ll receive an opt-in email which you MUST click through to get call details, downloads and extras.  

Simply enter your name and primary email below and I’ll whisk the details right to your inbox

I’ve been privileged to live most of my life in a richly multi-cultural environment, and to have friends from many areas of the world living both in Europe and here in America. We have shared Thanksgiving with all of them - Vietnamese, Arab,  German, Chinese, Malaysian, French, British, Italian, Iranian, Greek, Norwegian and people of many other nations.

As I like to say, Thanksgiving isn’t really an American holiday, it’s a holiday for all people to give thanks for what we have, for the richness of our lives. It is a time to give thanks not only for surviving to see another day, but to do so richly, in beauty, and in a state of surpassing grace.

Grace is what comes when we are thankful, when we live in a state of constant gratitude. And grace is accessible to each and every one of us, just by the virtue of our giving thanks for what we have.

No matter how money or possession deficient we may be at the present, we are all rich beyond measure. We have our health, we have wonderful energy therapy techniques to keep us well and happy, and we have each other in community. We have breath in our bodies, and purpose in each and every one of our lives. No matter how much we may perceive that we "don’t have", we are truly rolling in abundance.

Most of those reading this have clothes on our backs and a place to live. The lucky have someone, or many people to love them. The very, very lucky love others in abundance and are aware of how very rich this makes them.

What a treasure trove is ours!!

I give thanks for each and every single person in my life who has helped me, who has challenged me, who has championed me, and who has told me I couldn’t, shouldn’t or better not.

It is because of all of them that I have tried, failed, succeeded and kept on going. It is because of all those who love me and whom I love that I continue, and because I was given the gift of gratitude, that I do so in bliss and beauty. How very, very lucky I am.

We are all very, very blessed. When storm clouds gather and the wolf may seem to be at your door, remember this, and remember that the wolf is really a blessing in disguise, that the clouds always part to let the sun shine through. All we need do is return our thoughts to the present moment and reflect that in the now, all is well. And in the next moment and in the next.

And if, temporarily, all is not well and survival is threatened, that this too shall pass, and we have that to be so very thankful for. There is never a cloud without a silver lining, nor a storm that does not bring nourishment to our fields and forests, with sunshine to follow.

May the sun always shine in your life, and may you always know how rich you truly are -

Love and Blessings to you and yours,
Maryam