Uncertainty

Are you concerned about the uncertainty in your life?  Does it consume you not knowing what's going to happen next with your job, your relationship, your dreams? In the world today there is so much information about everything in our lives but it really doesn't help us to know what's next. In fact, I think all this information leads to more uncertainty in our lives. The truth is there is no defined answer to anything in our lives, that's why we need to live our lives in each & every moment.

The problem with us getting caught up in the uncertainty of our lives is that uncertainty leads to fear & we should never lead our lives from a place of fear. Everyone tries to scare us into doing things so we'll be safe.  I wrote a blog a few months ago about fear & the need to release it from our lives.  Uncertainty feeds fear & can begin the process of making our lives one of fear.

Know that nothing in life is certain but if we live our lives from a place of openness & love everything we ask for will be provided. Believe in the process of God/universe, know that if you let go of fear & open your heart you will always be provided for.  Everything in life happens at the correct time for us.  Sometimes we don't believe that because we want something else to happen in our lives.  But, the truth is that as long as we come from a place of love, set our intentions & detach from the result everything will happen at just the right time.

I hope you have a great weekend!!  See you again on Monday.

Bill

Quote of the day: "Let go of the uncertainty in your life, open your heart to love & everything will happen at the right time for you!  Believe in Miracles!!"

P.S.: Many of you may know that I've started a new video blog on "Youtube" if you want to see me & listen to me...check it out.  The subject of the video is "Love" here's the link:  http://bit.ly/SqlE6


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Breathe

Sometimes the most important thing you can do for yourself is to just breathe.  Yes, I know we all breathe every moment of everyday.  But as the world is swirling around us at faster & faster speeds we all need to take time to just breathe. I wrote a blog a while ago on quieting the noise all around us & another blog on focus, these are very important things to do especially in our busy world. But the simplest thing we can do is just breathe. Even if you can only take a few moments, just breathe!

I know this sounds simple but it's one of the easiest ways to clear your mind.  It's a quick & easy way to reconnect with your soul.  I have found that most people never take the time to just breathe and this simple practice can truly change your life.

The way I like to do this is as follows:  Sit down if at all possible, take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for just a couple of seconds, then breathe out through your nose.  As you are breathing out release all the tension and all the thoughts that are currently in your mind.  Many times it will take more then one breath but even if it takes 3 this can be done in a total of 15 - 20 seconds.

Do it often especially when you feel stressed or need to focus.  As you get better at letting go you'll find it's an amazing way to reconnect with your soul.  Doing this simple thing anytime you feel you need to, will change your life.

The world moves to quickly in our time.  In the past, the generations always had time to reflect & breathe but that's not always the case today.  So be willing to take the first step to change your life.  Breathe & live a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "By simply taking a deep breathe & releasing the tension in your life, you will lead a more joyful/positive life!  Do it today!"


P.S.: Many of you may know that I've started a new video blog on "Youtube" if you want to see me & listen to me...check it out.  The subject of the video is "Love" here's the link:  http://bit.ly/SqlE6


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Resentment

Do you harbor resentment towards others?  We talked a while ago about taking responsibility in your life.  In that blog I discussed how people avoid taking responsibility for anything in their life.  They like to blame everyone else for what's happening in their life.  The truth is we only have 2 things that we have control over in our lives. These are our own actions;  We can control what we are going to do, like getting another cup of coffee. The 2nd is how we react to others; that story was really funny you made me laugh.  We don't have control over anything else.  You may believe you do but truly you don't.

This 2nd control we have in our life, how we react to others is where resentment hides.  In the blog I wrote on taking responsibility I said that we all need to take responsibility for the things in our life.  We need to stop blaming other's.....he made me so upset that I am angry at everyone now.  You have the choice to let go of the anger so truly you have control over how you feel & this is where resentment hides.  I resent him because he ruined my day by making me so angry.

Taking responsibility is the 1st step of this process, the 2nd step is your reaction to others.  Can you have someone say something to you trying to get you upset & not get upset?  This is the toughest part of letting go of resentment & taking control of your life.  You need to come from a place of love.  Always look to others with love even when they are angry or trying to make you angry.  By moving to this next step you will never harbor resentment.  You will move beyond these negative feeling & onto a more joyful life.

Let go of the negative emotions in your life.  Open yourself to being the loving person we are all meant to be.  By coming from a place of love we can actually help this angry person let go of his anger.  Negative emotions want company, they need people to join to keep them going.  The old adage that misery loves company truly is correct & this is how negative emotions can take over your life.  Open yourself to love even when it's hard. Let go of the negative emotions of resentment & anger & continue on your path to a more joyful life. 

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the Day: "Let go of resentment & replace it with love.  Through love you will find a more joyful life."

PS: Many of you may know that I've started a new video blog on "Youtube" if you want to see me & listen to me...check it out.  The subject of the video is "Love" here's the link:  http://bit.ly/SqlE6


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Trust

In the world today there seems to be a lot of people that have violated people's trust.  In fact there's a general feeling that nobody is trustworthy anymore.  Every politician, every actor, every company head has people that watch their every move to see if they are doing anything that violates our trust.

I believe this is a very toxic environment.  The media instills fear into everyone so we react from fear rather then from a good positive place.  There will always be people that take advantage of others.  These people are misguided they believe that money is the only way to joy & their EGO has taken over completely.  They will never find true joy because the EGO can never be satisfied.  It always wants more & it wants more as quickly as possible.  It doesn't consider the impact on others.

The truth to me is that most people are good people and they want to do the right thing.  I believe that, as with love, we need to trust more.  Trust as defined by dictionary.com is: to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something.  I believe the way to create a better place to live, whether it be our home, our town, our state or our country is to rely on one another.  I believe with the opening up of the world through the internet, cell phones & other communication devices that their are many people in the world that want to live in a better place.  Together we can make a difference.

Now, I'm not saying that you should blindly trust everyone (especially in regards to money) but I believe we need to lead with trust.  Believe in people, just this shift of your thoughts to a more open & trusting person will lead you to a more joyful life!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Trust & believe in the people in your life.  Together we can change the world!"


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Detachment II

I wrote last week about detachment in regards to your intentions.  In that blog I mentioned how we need to detach from the results of our intentions in order for them to be manifested.  I also discussed how we need to be careful with the way we phrase our intention & watch using words like want & need.  There's another part to detachment & it came up in a conversation I was having with a friend yesterday.  She asked me about patience with the universe manifesting our intentions.

I wrote a blog a while ago about patience.  The patience I wrote about was patience with yourself & others.  Patience can be a difficult thing for all us, especially in this hurried world we all live in.  We all expect everything to happen now!  This is never more true then with our intentions.  We expect that if we take the time to connect with our soul & set our intention in the right way that the universe should manifest our intention right now.

Truly, if we detach from the result of our intention completely we don't need to be patient.  Why? because if we detach from the result of our intention we aren't concerned when or how this intention will be manifested we just know it will be.  Now I realize that all of us do wait to see our intentions manifested.  In fact being connected to God/universe makes you more aware of what things come into your life. But truly if you detach from the results of your intention you aren't concerned about when this intention will be manifested.

In the bigger picture, I believe that God/universe has a sense of humor about things in our life & especially with our intentions.  I have found that God/universe likes to bring things in our life to show us what our true thoughts are rather then the intention we think we've set.  God/universe will also tease us with tempting material things to see if we truly want to stick with our intention.  I personally find it all very interesting but I never worry about the timing of it all.  I just truly believe that whatever intention I set will manifest itself in the perfect way at the right time.

Sometimes we think we know when the perfect time is for us.  But truly if a pure intention is set & it's not manifested God/universe doesn't believe it's the correct time for this intention to be manifested in our lives.  Trust in the process & everything will be manifested in the proper time.

Until tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Release your intention & know that it will be manifested in the perfect way at the perfect time."


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Emotions

We've talked a lot about different emotions over the past few months & we've particularly focused on the negative emotions that hold us back from having a more joyful life. I've tried to show you ways to work through these negative emotion to bring your life to a more positive/joyful place.  As we move forward on this journey to joy it's important to understand that we need to accept all of our emotions, even the negative ones as part of who we are.

As we grow to accept who were are & love ourselves where were at right now.  We need to allow ourselves to feel all of our emotions.  They are all part of who we are & although we want to minimize the negative emotions in our life, we have to accept them when we feel them.  Try to understand where the emotions are coming from, whether good or bad.  When we understand the reason we're reacting the way we do, we get to know ourselves much better.  Sometimes these emotions, good or negative, can be very deep seated from something that's happen in your life before.  The situation that you are experiencing at the moment may not be the same situation that happen in your past but it makes you feel the same way.  It's this connection to your feelings that's important to note.

By understanding the "why" of emotions we can minimize the impact of the negative emotions in our lives.  Sometimes these negative emotions serve us well, like Fear!  Although we don't want to live from a place of fear, (& far to many of us do) if you were in a situation where we should be in fear it does serve us well.  All of our emotions are important & they are all part of who we are.  Celebrate each of them & grow in your knowledge of yourself when you experience them.

You are a compilation of everything you've experienced in your life. Accept all the different parts of you including all of your emotions.  Grow & understand each part of yourself & you will lead a more joyful life.

Till Monday, have a great weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day: "Accept & experience all the emotions you have, for each emotion is a window into who you are." 


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Admitting you're wrong

One of the hardest things for many of us to do is to admit when we're wrong.  The world today is filled with people who have gone out of their way to cover up their mistakes rather then admit them & move on.  This is especially true in the workplace where, for the most part, we are literally afraid to admit we made a mistake. 

Why is it that we can't admit we wrong? Why do we dig in our heels to defend ourselves even when we know in our heart we're wrong.  The number one answer for this is the world we live in today.  We have unfortunately moved away from the idea that trying things out to find what you're good at it or what you want to do is not acceptable anymore.  We now have to be successful immediately.  There is no room in our society to try & fail.  I'm truly not sure if a man like Thomas Edison would have succeeded in the world today.  One of my favorite quotes from him is: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  can you imagine someone today saying that?

The second reason why we find it difficult to admit when we're wrong is the EGO.  The EGO needs to defend its self regardless of whether it's right or wrong.  In fact it will at times try to crush someone who challenges it, even when it knows it's wrong.  Is this a place to live from?  Is this the way to a more joyful life?  The answer to this, for me, is easy...it's a resounding NO!  Everyone makes mistakes, everyone!!  It's part of us being humans.  I have learned in my life to admit when I make a mistake.  In the corporate world I've been met with shock because I've actually admitted a mistake.  Privately some of these people have come to me & said they wish they had the strength to do that.  But the bottom line is in most business environments it's not acceptable to admit a mistake.

I believe strongly in the opening up of the world where we all can be who we are.  We're all not good at the same thing & the truth is that most mistakes can be easily fixed if admitted when they happen.  Let's move forward together to a more accepting & open world not only in our personal lives but also in our business dealings.

The other part of admitting that you made a mistake is to say you're sorry.  There are two parts to this in my mind; The first is forgiving yourself for making a mistake & the second is to ask for forgiveness from the person or people that were affected by your mistake.  I believe if you truly are sincere with saying you're sorry most people will feel that & you'll be able to move past whatever happened.

Be willing to make mistakes, admit them when they happen & ask for forgiveness to move forward in your life.  This process of accepting yourself as you are will open your life to more joy then you can imagine.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Be honest with yourself & the others in your life.  Admit when you make a mistake, move past it & onto a more joyful life."


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Detachment

Many of us know about the movie "The Secret" or the "Law of Attraction" or as Deepak's book was called "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" & we have often talked in this blog about setting your intentions to bring more joy into your life.  This setting of intention is the first step in realizing all your dreams, connect with your soul & create the joy you want to manifest in your life.

The next step, which is often overlooked, is the detachment of this intention.  We've discussed how God/universe only knows to give us what we ask for, but if we stay attached to our request we will manifest that attachment.  Here's an example; "I want more money" is my intention because I "want" the universe only knows to give me more wanting & if I then attach myself to this intention saying I need "xyz" to happen to get more money I close myself off to all other possibilities.

In detachment, we manifest by allowing the universe to create our intention in any way it chooses because we're not attached to the outcome of our intention.  It is in this uncertainty of how the intention will manifest that allows the universe to do its best work.  Thus if my intention is for more money, I would start with something like this: "I have an abundance of resources that continually manifest themselves in my life"  In this intention I first changed the thought from wanting to acknowledgment of continued abundance.  Then I detach myself from the outcome by allowing God/universe to work in anyway it sees fit.  I don't condition this intention by saying my continued abundance is by working at this job or winning the lottery.

Detachment is the only way an intention will manifest.  It's letting go of control to allow the universe to work.  The final part of manifesting this intention is to believe it on a soul level.  Many of us can say we have abundance in our lives but deep down we have fears of having enough money to pay the bills.  The only true way to manifest what you want is believe it in the deepest part of your soul.  To begin with, saying the intention over & over again is a great way to start.  You can often actually convince yourself of your intention if you continue to repeat the words to yourself, at some point you may actually believe yourself.  But, the easiest way is to put yourself into a quiet place & connect to your soul. Then realize in this quiet reflection that you've always had abundance.

Detachment is a difficult lesson & as we discussed in the blog on control, in this world it's even more difficult to let go.  Letting go of your intentions will alllow miracles to happen!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Detach yourself from the outcome of all your intentions & manifest the joy you're looking for today!" 


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Being Yourself

We've talked a lot in the last few months about change.  Being the change in the world & changing your life to bring more joy into your life.  We've also discussed the steps to follow to reconnect with your soul & your divine purpose.  The challenge we all face in this fast paced world is being true to ourselves.  There is a great deal of pressure in this world to be what others want us to be...."The perfect employee"....."The perfect spouse" sometimes these pressures are from within ourselves.  We feel we have to be the best at everything or we're not good enough.

Regardless of the motivation these pressures can be a lot to handle no matter how experienced you are at the practices we've talked about in this blog.  The bottom line for me is to be comfortable with who you are.  What does this mean to me?  It means to be able to look at who you truly are & be that person regardless of the pressures & people that are around you.  I know that this is much more difficult then it sounds because it took me many years to feel good about who I am. The first step is simply that, be comfortable with who you are. 

This means taking the time to forgive yourself for all the past mistakes you've made & then accepting yourself knowing you're not perfect for who you are right now.  Once you get past this point then the next step is to feel secure enough with who you are to be that person in any situation.  This can be very tough because we are all social creatures to a large extent & we tend to adapt to the company we have. 

The bottom line is, that as with many of the things we've discussed here, it all starts from within.  Be happy with who you are, let your light shine outward into this great & beautiful world.  It's our uniqueness that makes this world a wonderful place to be.  Let go of the fear of rejection & be true to yourself.  You are a divine creation created by a divine being.  You are loved unconditionally by God/universe for who you are.  Accept who you are & be yourself.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "One of the toughest things in this world is to be yourself.  You are a divine creation be a light for the world!"


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Friends

Have you ever thought about the friends in your life?  Do you think your friends bring you more joy?  I think as we continue on our journey to more joy one of the important things to do is to take a look at who is in your life.  I have found that if you surround yourself with positive people it becomes much easier to continue on your own path of joy.

Now I'm not suggesting that you just drop anyone from your life that is not positive.  That choice is really up to you.  We all have people in our lives for various reasons & sometimes those connections go back a long way.  I am suggesting that you take a look at who is in your life & what kind of energy they have.  Several months ago I wrote a blog on Energy & I discussed how everything in our life has energy.  Have you ever felt you were in a great mood & someone comes by to chat with you & when they leave you feel drained & depressed?  It happens to all of us, there are people who feed off of other peoples energy.  They need positive people in their lives to keep them going. 

Energy flows out of all of us & as I discussed in the Energy blog, there have been amazing experiments with water showing the affect we can have on water crystals just by thinking about them.  Without going through all of this again let's just say that we all have energy that flows out of us.  This energy affects everything around us, including other people.  If we want to be a person of change & lead a more positive/joyful life we need to be aware of how the people in our life affect our energy.

As we grow in our joy it becomes easier to stay joyful even when we have people in our lives that drain our energy.  I the beginning though it's important to at least recognize the people & friends in our lives that affect our own energy.  Surround yourself with people who lift you up & make you feel positive & your life will continue to blossom into a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Recognize the energy of everyone in your life.  Surround yourself with people who life you up & you'll lead a more joyful life."


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Vision

Do you have a vision for your life?  Do you truly know what you want?  Many of us think we have an idea of what we want in life, but is what we want truly what we need?  Are we listening to our soul or to our EGO?  These are very difficult questions & as I noted in the blog about EGO several months ago, it's a tough thing to get past.  We think if we get that job or if we find true love that we'll have a joyful life.  This isn't always the case, if our motivation is from our EGO we'll truly never be satisfied.  That's one of the problem with the EGO it wants more & more & can never be satisfied.  It might be happy for a short period of time because it's gotten what it wants but it will never be truly satisfied.

One of the first blogs I wrote about was creating a vision board & taking time to look at it each day & feel the way each picture or word makes you feel.  I have found that if you do this you will begin to manifest many of the things you want in your life.  As I noted in the Vision Board blog, I like to use a bulletin board because it's easy to add new things or change things out as your vision for your life changes.

The thing I didn't discuss in the blog on a Vision Board was taking the time to create a vision for your life.  For me this takes time, I tend to write down the things that I think I want in my life & think about them off & on for sometimes weeks.  I let them get into my head so I may wake up thinking about them.  The next step I take is to try & understand how this thought makes me feel, does it feel right to my gut or soul?

My experience is that if you take the time to feel your way through the things you think you want in your life, you will slowly take the EGO out of the equation.  The things that don't feel right or correct to your gut/soul usually are EGO based & not truly what you want.  In addition what will happen to me is that when I think about something & it feels right to my gut/soul my head/EGO will try to talk me out of it.  The EGO will put up stumbling blocks or obstacles to try & take away what is a true gut feeling.

Why does the EGO do this?  I can't answer for everyone but for me it's because the EGO wants something right now to try & satisfy it.  It doesn't want to wait & work towards a goal.  It wants it right now & it will always want the quick & easy way.  Don't trust the EGO!

Create a vision for your life.  Reflect  on what you truly want in your life & create a vision board with things that will help you bring these things into your life.

Until Monday, have a great weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take the time to create a vision for your life.  Reflect on it daily & watch this vision manifest itself & you will ahve more joy in your life!"

Courage

Yes, Courage is an interesting word & subject.  Many of us don't believe we have courage of any kind, we live our lives in fear instead.  Courage is a virtue & I believe we all have it within us.  But for many of us we don't believe we have Courage in our life because we ignore our own strength.  It takes Courage to do the right thing everyday.  It takes Courage to stand up for what we believe in.  It takes Courage to change.

I trust deeply in the courage we all have because I know that no matter we go through if we believe in ourselves we will have the Courage to get through anything.  Sometimes true Courage only shows its self when we need it the most.  Yesterday we talked about reflection & taking time to look at the things that are going on in your life.  While you're taking this time to reflect realize the Courage you've had in your life.  Understand that you've made it through & therefore you can make it through anything that happens.

We reflect far to often on our failures in our life.  Our society only looks to success & enjoys pointing out everyone's flaws.  I don't subscribe to this thought.  I believe that any failure helps us to grow as long as we learn from it.  I've been through a lot of things in my life & part of my growth towards a more joyful life is directly due to the mistakes/failures I've made in my life.  I realized that through it all I've survived & sometimes I've even flourished. 

It was Courage that got me through & took a lot of Courage to change my life.  Believe in the Courage you have!  Trust that it's there whenever you need it & know that if you take the first step to change your life the world will open up to you like never before.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:  "Courage comes from deep within us.  Believe in the Courage you have & change your life starting today!"

Reflection

I've mentioned before how we all need to try to quiet the noise around us & take time for ourselves.  I think this time is very important to be able to reflect on everything that's going on in your life, if you're fortunate to have a friend or a loved one to discuss your thoughts I believe you tend to discover many more things.  Why is this?  For me it has to do with the way my mind works.  I tend to like to discuss things with others to hear their point of view.  This openness tends to lead me to more creative solutions & to things I've never thought of.  I'm not saying this is the answer for everyone, I know that everyone works in a different way.  I can only say that this works wonders for me.

Why am I bringing this up?  Well, as many of you know I went for a drive the last couple of days to see the fall colors in Michigan & just to get away.  Since I've been laid-off I haven't been able to do much outside of the house, we are in a real money conservation mode.  But, we found a cheap place to stay & decided that getting away was important.  This trip gave me a lot of time to discuss things with Heidi & reflect on where to go from here.  That's why I have found this process so important.

Regardless of how you reflect on the things that are going on in your life.  Try to take time often to do it.  The idea behind this is to look at your life as an "outside observer" to reflect on what's going on & discover clues in every part of your life.  This is not always an easy thing to do & finding the time can be very difficult.  Trust me though it pays off in big dividends.  If you are by yourself, I would suggest writing down the major things that are going on in your life.  Then the feelings that surround those things, many times you'll find a theme or a consistent thread throughout these major events & feelings.  Once you're able to recognize the theme you'll be able to clarify where to go from here.  Self-reflection is never an easy thing to do but if you take the time it will pay off in big dividends.  Remember that God/universe only wants to give you what you want, by clarifying the messages that God/universe is sending you, you are able to see what you're truly sending out.  These "true messages" may not be what you think you're sending out but a deep seated believe you've always had.  By paying attention & reflecting on the things that are going on in your life you can start to change the messages you're sending out & change your life to bring you more joy!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take time to reflect on the things happening in your life. This time of thoughtful reflection will lead you to a more joyful life."

Be the Change

One of my favorite quotes is from Mahatma Gandhi "You must be the change you want to see in the world."  All change comes from within us & I've tried to embrace this idea over the past several years.  I've tried hard to be open & accepting to all people & all religions.  With this blog I've worked hard to do the same.  I've always been very interested in learning about all the major religions in the world & in fact I took comparative religions in both High School & College.  I bring this for two reason one; I believe the more knowledge we have about the other people we meet in our lives gives us the opportunity to be more open.  The second reason is; For me one the best examples of change is the prayer of Saint Francis.  For those of you who don't know this prayer here are the words:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

There are many interpretations of this prayer but to me it's about the Gandhi quote I lead off with.  We make choices in everything we do & if we choose to do the right thing in everything we do the world will be a better place for all of us.  Regardless of your religious belief's absorb these words & be the change in the world that you want to see.  

I believe that by opening up & living from a place of love we as individuals & together as a group can shift the consciousness of the world in our lifetime.  Imagine a world where we live in peace & harmony & all of us work to always do the right thing.  For me there could be no better place then this.

Start today & be the change you want to see in the world!

I hope you all have a great weekend.  I'm taking a drive to see fall colors on Monday & Tuesday so I'm not sure if I'll be able to write this blog (I will try).  Enjoy yourselves & I'll see you soon.

Bill

Quote of the day:  You must be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi