Of course there are several other ways to look at the matter.

For example, until you have enough money to pay your basic needs, money certainly reduces stress and at least indirectly increases (buys) happiness. Once you cover your needs, more money delivers greatly reduced incremental returns.

Got another perspective? Please share!

Sorry it’s so dark and you can’t really see anything! Let me know what you think, and if I get enough response, I’ll redo it with visuals to match the message.

Enjoy!

P.S. Me, too!

Want to get excited about the future? Watch this awesome talk by X Prize’s Peter Diamandis showing how rapidly we’re solving many of our world’s greatest problems.

Here at the University of Life, we have a parallel vision. We’re working to build a wealth of information resources to help visitors learn many of life’s most important lessons. And while innovators and researchers reveal new technologies that will transform our external lives, our vision primarily centers around the inner world of human beings and optimizing hearts and minds for happy, successful, teamwork-based coexistence. We call this focus “human technology.” A world of optimized human beings can solve any problem with incredible grace.

Many of the most important lessons every human needs are not new or revolutionary, but a staggering portion of the world’s population does not yet know or understand them. They’re not easily learned from the School of Hard Knocks.

Consider the world’s many conflicts, for example, between countries, races, and even rival sports fans. Two simple concepts, if understood by those involved, would eradicate the unhealthy aspects of competition instantly.

The first is abundance. Fear of scarcity can raises the stakes to deadly levels, when the reality is that earth’s resources are adequate for all. All we need is cooperation and distribution, especially considering solutions offered by emerging technologies. If everyone practiced gratitude long enough to develop an abundance mentality, more such cooperation would become reality.

The second concept is unity. The “us/them” mentality pits groups against one another when we really have far more in common than differences. We’re all in the same boat; and in the end, we sink or swim together.

I’m not naive enough to believe that everyone will ever understand such “lofty” perspectives. Many people never really grow up. They never really learn to think. Without effort or massive cultural change around them, they will never relinquish old ideas and trade them in for better ones. Leaving familiar ground and traveling beyond any conceptual horizon feels like madness until the distant shore of a new land comes into view.

But many people will. Youth especially are open to new ideas. They are looking for answers. They are willing to be inspired. That’s why they are our future, and we must equip them for a better future today. They can accomplish what most adults were never programmed for.

This morning I spoke to a local youth group about leadership. I made the distinction between great leaders – who inspire action – and mere managers, who organize and tell people what to do.

I told them that to be great leaders, they need a vision, and they need to be that vision. I listed a dozen traits worth developing – boldness, humility, knowledge, talent, optimism, determination, self worth, goodness, faith, love and others.

The moments that left the biggest impression on me came while I told them how beautiful or handsome, how smart and talented, how good and competent, fun and pleasant to be around they are. I saw eyes glowing in the audience. I could tell it was just what they needed to hear.

Confidence is exactly what they need to navigate their confusing teenage years successfully – to keep moving forward, trying and rising again when they fail. A sense of worth will keep them from turning to unhealthy sources for reassurance and acceptance. It could spare them years of confusion and misery and a lifetime of struggle. If they don’t learn it now, such ideas may never fit into their heads in the future.

So stay tuned as we continue to add content around here. If you find a post that you particularly like, please share it with your friends. Support our mission by purchasing books from the University of Life Press. And let us know what you like by clicking the Facebook “like” buttons or adding a comment.

Here are a few tips to help you make your dialogue effective:

1. Use realistic words. One reason why dialogue is so interesting and characterizing is because readers get to “hear” characters speak and instantly get an impression of what they’re like. If you don’t quote them the way they really talk, this won’t work.

If a teenager is speaking, don’t be afraid to spell words like “gonna” and “wanna.” If a drill sergeant is speaking, you may need to sw#@r.

2. Only say important things. If you can explain something faster without dialogue, then just explain it. Save the dialogue for interesting ideas and to show attitudes that characterize.

3. Describe the characters. If readers can picture them, it makes their words much easier to hear in their minds. Age is one of the most important things to reveal if it’s not already obvious.

4. Describe action. Along with the words, describe body language and facial expression to help readers interpret the words the way you intend.

5. Describe reaction. If someone says something shocking (or boring or whatever), then describe how others react to those words. Not only does this help convey the thoughts and feelings you intend, but as readers read these reactions, they will imagine the reaction and thereby experience the reaction in their minds!

Find three more tips in The Art & Craft of Writing.

In case you’re not familiar with how to punctuate and format dialogue, this next section should help you. For print formatting, pretend each of the following paragraphs is indented half an inch, which doesn’t work as well online without some special coding.

Once upon a time, there were two characters named Chris and Kirsten.

“Hi,” said Chris, “I’m Chris.”

more soon…

BTW you can spell the word both “dialogue” (UK & US) and “dialog” (US).

You’re not even experiencing the light that revealed the tree to you. Instead, the light that splashes through your pupils and focuses against the back of your eye causes the eye’s rods and cones to emit chemicals which translate into nerve impulses which travel to the visual cortex in the back of the brain where the image is then constructed and THEN, at last, you experience something, but it’s not the tree, it’s you.

Even if you touch the tree, even if you rub your fingers and palm against the rough bark or pluck a wide, green leaf from a tiny branch, you still only experience yourself, or, more precisely, the nerve impulses that travel up your arm create a sensory experience inside your brain.

“A mere technicality,” you say? Hardly! This is important to understand. Because if sensation occurs internally and beauty is no more than a judgment you make inside your head or heart (which is true), then you suddenly realize that beauty comes from YOURSELF. You suddenly realize that YOU and your consciousness are the source of beauty, not the outside world.

What this means for writers is that you can generate a VERY REAL experience for your readers by using vivid, effective descriptions. The only difference is that you skip the actual sensory input and jump straight to the experience formed by the imagination within the brain.

One of the most effective tools for making your writing come alive and seem utterly real are sensory details. I’ve perfected the teaching of this writing skill for over the years and have included 7 foolproof steps in The Art & Craft of Teaching. I’ll mention the four most important steps here. Follow these and you’ll be surprised at the visceral reaction your words generate in your readers.

1. Mention specific body parts. The more specific the better. Rain running down your face doesn’t seem nearly as real as rain splattering against your cheek and dripping off your chin.

2. Mention well-known or easily imagined sensory experiences. If whatever you’re describing doesn’t create a strong enough reaction by itself, then use a metaphor or comparison to well known highly sensory items.

3. Use onomatopoeia – words that sound like whatever’s going on. When metal clangs, clunks, rattles, crinkles or tinkles, it tells a lot about how thick or thin and heavy or light that metal is.

4. Show characters’ reactions to the sensory experience. By describing facial expressions, movements or words, your characters can model the reaction you want your readers to feel. As they imagine your characters’ response, that response happens inside their brain and the response can become as real as the real thing.

Practice Makes Perfect

Revise the following sentences, applying the above steps to generate stronger sensory reactions:

1. The rock landed on my foot.

2. She reached out and touched my arm.

3. My muscles ached after the hike.

4. Goose bumps appeared all over my skin.

5. The mud was very slimy.

6. He walked gingerly across the sharp gravel.

7. The house smelled familiar.

8. The hot shower felt good.

9. The bird landed in the tree.

10. The tires made a loud noise as the brakes locked up.

“Connection is why we’re here. It’s what makes life meaningful.”

Brene Brown’s research exposed shame as what unravels connection, and a six-year project brought her to a life-shattering fact – defeating shame through a strong sense of love and belonging requires the courage to be imperfect, authentic connection, a full embrace of vulnerability, and letting go of control. But Brene liked control, so her discovery led to a significant breakdown.

You’ll enjoy her entertaining and personal story, and her findings will teach you how to live whole heartedly!

Come back and watch it from time to time to keep yourself moving forward!

Here are some good quotes about vulnerability:

“In the beginning, people think vulnerability will make you weak, but it does the opposite. It shows you’re strong enough to care.”  - Victoria Pratt

“There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.” – M. Scott Peck

“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability… To be alive is to be vulnerable.” - Madeleine L’Engle

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” - C.S. Lewis

How? Work, of course. There’s no other reliable way.

We’re often told that work is bad. True, it can be unpleasant. Yes, it can take time. Sure, even cleaning the bathroom suddenly sounds like fun when we’re about to get started on a daunting project, but the fact remains that WORK IS GOOD.

And it’s good for you! It accomplishes things and makes goals and dreams come true. It makes you strong and able to conquer any obstacle. The ability to set goals and achieve them even makes you more attractive and inspiring.

How can you learn to love work? The first step is to do some of it. Learn that even unpleasant tasks aren’t so bad once you get started, and finishing up feels fantastic. 

Second is – whenever possible – to choose work that you love and that seems meaningful, something that makes a difference.

Third is to make your work environment as pleasant as possible. Find someone to support you in your goals. Get along with your coworkers as much as possible, and, if possible, get them enthusiastic about the task at hand.

What other ways to make work fun and effective do you know? What great work-related quotes have you heard? Please share your insights in the comments section below!

“There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements. Most of us are inherently lazy. We would rather play than work. We would rather loaf than work. A little play and a little loafing are good. But it is work that spells the difference in the life of a man or woman. It is stretching our minds and utilizing the skills of our hands that life us from mediocrity.” - Gordon B. Hinckley