The Hopi Indians thought that the world's religions each contained one spiritual thread, and that these threads are always seeking each other, wanting to join. When all the threads are finally woven together they will form a rope that will pull us out of this dark cycle of history and into the next realm. More contemporarily, the Dalai Lama has repeated the same idea, assuring his Western students repeatedly that they needn't become Tibetan Buddhists in order to be his pupils. He welcomes them to take whatever ideas they like out of Tibetan Buddhism and integrate these ideas into their own religious practices. Even in the most unlikely and conservative of places, you can find sometimes this glimmering idea that God might be bigger than our limited religious doctrines have taught us. In 1954, Pope Pius XI, of all people, sent some Vatican delegates on a trip to Libya with these written instructions: "Do NOT think that you are going among Infidels. Muslims attain salvation, too. The ways of Providence are infinite."

뛰어 가려면 늦지 않게 가고, 어차피 늦을 거라면 뛰어가지 마라. 후회할거라면 그렇게 살지 말고, 그렇게 살거라면 절대 후회하지 마라. [...] 내가 두려웠던 것은 어떤 한 시기에 달성 되어야 할 것이 달성되지 못한채 그 시기가 지나가 버리고 마는 것이다. 그것은 어쩔 수 없는 일이 아니다. 나는 정말 알알하게 내 온몸으로 느낄 수 있는 생의 전 시간을 자신의 손으로 쥐고싶다. 

-- 무라카미 하루키

Happiness is a mindset of appreciation -- happiness is what happens NOW, when you appreciate what you have.

"Perpetual children, in a manner."

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. 

사랑하라, 인생에서 좋은 것은 그것뿐이다. 

- George Sand

Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World

By Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger

Imagine waking up every morning believing that your actions can make a significant change in the world.

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. 

-–Victor E. Frankl

That which we witness, we are forever changed by, and once witnessed we can never go back. 

-–Angeles Arrien

Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way. –Ralph Crawshaw

P66

...minga was basically a call to action. Roughly translated, it means a community coming together to work for the benefit of all…language reflects culture. The more words you have for something, the more important it is.

P69

Whether our school days begin tomorrow or are long behind us, we need to remember that millions of children in developing countries will never see the inside of a classroom. In North America many of us are fortunate to have the opportunity to learn, but the quality of education that students receive can greatly vary between school. Quality education is a right, both for students here and in the rest of our global community – it’s time to make it a priority.

-There are twice as many shopping centers in the United States as there are secondary schools.

-Almost 80% of undergraduate students in the U.S. work 30 hours a week while attending school, yet the average student who borrowed money to finance state or private college will have median debt of $15,500.

-Almost one in five of the world’s children in not attending school

P70

Adopt a village. Come together with others in your workplace, faith group, or school to adopt a community and build a school overseas. For as little as $5000, you can build a classroom and transform the lives of children for generations to come. Through Leaders Today’s international volunteer trips, you can even help in the construction process.

P72

…my mother was a quiet hero whose greatest achievements were never obvious to the outside world….I have learned to trust in the love and the example of others, that we are made for interdependence. I have also learned that we are made different, capable of our own special miracles, not in order to be separated but to know of our need for each other.

--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

P74

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

--Marcel Proust

P75

Dalai Lama advises us all to “practice compassion in everyday life. Though we may find differences in philosophical views and rites, the essential message of all religions is very much the same. They all advocate love, compassion, and forgiveness.”

P76

P82

Creating an Awareness of We

- Gratitude

- Empathy

- A redefinition of happiness

- A redefinition of community

P85

No one is ever too old or too young to begin the move from Me to We.

P93

It is our job to make life meaningful; no one can do that for us.

--Richard Gere

P94

If Me to We is so wonderful, why hasn’t everyone already embraced this new approach to life? Research tells us that the answer is both incredibly complex and astonishingly simple: fear…A lot of us have grown up with the belief that if we don’t look out for ourselves, no one else will. We worry that notions of community are idealistic tales from the past, irrelevant in our cut-throat, mile-a-minute world. We’re concerned that if we think in terms of We, then Me will suffer. The good news is that nothing could be farther from the truth.

P122

For Allison Sander it wasn’t so much a question of overcoming adversity or banishing apathy but of trying to make up her mind about what to do with her life…Her shyness had melted away, replaced by confidence and the firm conviction that she would be part of the solution to the problems she had witnessed overseas. Allison had learned that finding happiness in day-to-day life starts from within, through converting the quiet compassion she felt for others into real action.

P136

What you put out comes back; it’s the third law of motion. So we’re always rewarded in kind according to the depth of our deeds.

--Oprah Winfrey

P137

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

--Melody Beattie

P140

“As long as you have your life, you have everything.”

--Hurricane Katrina survivor

P146

…practicing gratitude involves training your mind to notice, savor, and remember the positive aspects of life. It doesn’t mean deluding yourself, certainly. It simply means making a conscious choice to abandon fears and insecurities and instead to develop a sense of wonder and appreciation for the world. We then see circumstances in terms of the opportunities they present rather than the obstacles they create.

P166

…the first and most obvious lesson is that you need to know about a situation before you can do something about it. This means refusing to turn a blind eye to injustice, just as Gitta did, and learning all you can about it.

P169

Tips for Nurturing Empathy in Children

- Discuss feelings

- Discipline appropriately

- Praise and label positive actions

- Use role models

- Set a good example

- Provide a moral compass

P183

Aristotle’s definition of Hedonic vs. Eudaemonic happiness

Hedonic – happiness of the senses (it is as fleeting as it is intense)

Eudaemonic – happiness of the soul (it is found in activities that are aligned with our fundamental human needs for meaning, connection, and personal growth, and it brings a sense of engagement, contentment, and fulfillment)

P184

…these trinkets were not helping to bring back the best memories of our travels—the people we met, the friendships we formed, the good laughs, stories, and experiences we enjoyed together.

P186

…he saw that as bad as he thought he had it, somebody always had it worse…a poverty-stricken little boy wasn’t just surviving, he was aliving. He didn’t have much to share, but he was sharing. He was doing what he could with what he had.

P189

What we do should reflect what we believe.

P191

“Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.” This is apath of love: “Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire…The salvation of man in through love and in love.”

--Viktor Frankl

 The Me to We philosophy is essentially a choice of how we live our lives.  We have the freedom to choose how we respond to the worst of human situations, as we do to the minor problems of everyday life.

While love may be an overused word, it is clearly an underused action.

P192

“To laugh much; to win respect of intelligent persons and the affections of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a little better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social conditionl to have played and laughed with enthusiasm, and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

P222

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words. It is expressed in the choice that we make, and those choices are ultimately our responsibility.”

--Eleanor Roosevelt

P223

Most of us spend much of our lives on autopilot, guided by the habits that we have developed in the past.

P223

Living Me to We challenges us to take control of our decisions and our lives. It involves not only making an effort to become more aware of our everyday choices and the impact they have but also to actively make decisions that promote well-being, both for ourselves and the larger community. It encourages us to stand up for our highest ideals, whether the decision in question is small and seemingly mundane or large and potentially life-altering.

P223

Electricity is something that most of us in the developed world take for granted.

P226

What is my vision for an ideal world?

If we are to craft a world that is just, compassionate, sustainable, and free of violence and hate, we must take every opportunity to make decisions that reflect our vision.

P243

“Love never measures. It just gives.”

Mother Teresa

P250

Making the right choice isn’t always easy. As you begin to make Me to We decisions, you may find yourself challenged to move outside of your comfort zone.

P259

Take a minute or two to think about what you love to do or what interests you. Understanding yourself well enough to know what lights you up is the first step toward discovering your gifts…opportunities are limited only by your imagination!

P260

If there is one message to share about the Me to We movement, it’s that it can’t afford to wait for a distant “ideal” time and place. Now is the ideal time to begin living Me to We, and wherever you are now, you’re in the ideal place—personally, socially, physically. 

돌아왔다. 

여전히 '무엇'에 대한 답은 없다. 하지만 '어떻게'는 알 것 같다. 

그걸로 됐다. That'll do and I'll live. 

:) 

by Felix Gonzalez-Torres

나홀로 즐거이 인사동 나들이를 마치고 알라딘중고서점에 들렀다. 

몽실언니를 집어들었다 내려놓았다. 

책은 내려놓았지만 이 한마디는 데려왔다. 

이 세상의 모든 폭력이 사라지지 않는 한 우리는 누구나 불행한 인생을 살아야 할 것입니다. 

- 권정생