Capturing interesting Values Statements
It will be nice to compare all of the vision and mission statements of all of the organizations we intend to unite.
Cosm.org:
To awaken and catalyze the spiritual path of each person by providing access to the highest mystic truth through art and creative action To build community that bridges creativity and spirituality To recognize and celebrate each moment as an opportunity for love and transformation on personal, social and global levels To honor and integrate the wisdom of all humanity, every race, religion, and age To recognize the teachings of all wisdom paths that expand consciousness to visionary states and personal contact with the Divine To abide by and maintain professional ethics, fair use and practices To reach for the highest potential in our personal lives, in our work and in our creative pursuits To honor the source Reverence for the earth and the web of life To recognize the body of knowledge and wisdom communicated through the paintings at CoSM as reflections of the Divininty of all human beings To see the good in all people To laugh, celebrate, appreciate and experience joy To foster global and inner peace To broaden our mental perspective through education In many ways successful people are just like unsuccessful people. They come from all sorts of backgrounds, all types of demographics, have all levels of education and experience and expertise.
In many ways successful people are the same as everyone else. Yet look closely and you'll see that in certain key ways, they are very, very different. Here are the qualities that set exceptional people apart: 1. They hate playing politics. Successful people can't stand playing politics -- and to some degree, people who play politics. They don't care about jockeying for promotions or trying to be "right" in a meeting. A successful person's primary focus is on solving difficult problems and accomplishing cool things. 2. They love when others win. Politically motivated people hate when other people earn praise or recognition; they instinctively feel that diminishes the light from their star. Others aren't competitive, at least not in that way. They want to be recognized, but their accomplishments don't preclude others from doing great things, too. They want everyone else who does something awesome to get recognized, too. 3. They desperately want to see ideas come to fruition. Maybe they love to dream up their own ideas. Or maybe they love to help others build out their ideas. Either way, successful people want to make things happen -- new, exciting, crazy, groundbreaking things. Successful people don't want to manage what already exists; they want to create what doesn't exist -- yet. 4. They're meta-thinkers. Successful people spend a lot of time thinking about thinking. They like to think about the best way to think about a goal or challenge or problem. They like to think about how to think differently and develop a different angle or approach or perspective. They like to think about thinking, because when they find new ways to think, they find new ways to act. 5. They prefer to make or enhance the rules. Meta-thinkers instinctively evaluate every rule -- and look for ways to improve it. They prefer to figure things out. They see rules as problems to solve or challenges to overcome. 6. They believe nothing is sacred. Successful people don't say, "Well, that's just the way it is." Instead they never feel what is must always be, because perspectives can be shifted. Laws of physics can be broken. Conventional wisdom may not be wisdom at all. Even when something huge stands in their way, they know there's a way around it -- they just need to figure it out. Changing a paradigm makes new things possible. 7. They love solving problems. Successful people constantly look for problems to solve: sometimes little, sometimes big, sometimes technical, sometimes business- or team-related. Drop them into a static situation and they'll create "problems" they can solve. 8. They're great at self-assessment. Why? They constantly evaluate what they do, and then work hard to be even better tomorrow than they are today. More than anything, successful people are honest with themselves. 9. They embrace nontechnical feedback. Successful people readily take input from others. And they definitely don't put up barriers to feedback. Feedback, especially critical feedback, is just another problem to solve. Becoming better is more important than their egos. That's because they don't see feedback as threatening -- they see feedback as enlightening. Plus they know they need a lot more feedback on interpersonal skills and personal growth than on technical skills. Why? Technical issues are obvious. Because they are constantly self-assessing, successful people know their technical limitations better than anyone else. But what other issues might be standing in their way? (If you see what they need to improve on and tell them, you become their hero, because now they can solve a problem they weren't aware of.) 10. They actively create their future selves. In general, successful people realize they are often their own worst enemy. They don't see themselves as controlled by external forces; they think the barrier between what they are and what they want is almost always them. So they're constantly trying to be better tomorrow than they are today -- even if the people around them wish they would just give it a rest. 11. They adore taking things off their plates. Look at pictures of Albert Einstein and you would think, "Dude, never changed clothes?" Nope -- but he did have a lot of identical clothing. He didn't want to waste brainpower figuring out what to wear every day. Successful people have a similar tendency to systematize, not to be anal but to take small and large decisions off their plate so they don't have to waste time thinking about them. So they eat similar things, wear similar clothing, and create daily routines. They organize so they don't have to waste brain-share on things that don't really matter. But don't confuse creating routines with being compulsive. Successful people will change a routine the moment they see a flaw or an opportunity to make an improvement. There's method to the apparent madness -- you just have to look for it. 12. They're awesome at leveraging self-reward. Successful people almost always do the things they have to do before they tackle the things they want to do. They use what they want to do as a reward. And that means the more things they have to do, the more they'll get done. (But that doesn't mean they're great at celebrating success. Because they're constantly trying to improve, a "big win" isn't big -- it's simply the outcome of all the things they did to make it come true.) 13. They believe they're in total control . . . Many people feel luck has a lot to do with success or failure: If they succeed, luck played a part; if they fail, the odds just didn't go their way. Successful people feel they have complete control over their success or failure. If they succeed, they caused it. If they fail, they caused it. 14. . . . So their egos don't suffer when they fail. Successful people don't see failure as a blow to the ego. Failure can be fixed. A future self will figure it out. Failure is just another problem to solve. 15. They do everything with intent. Like Jason Bourne, successful people don't do "random." They always have a reason for what they do, because they're constantly thinking about why they do what they do. They're not afraid. They're not emotionally attached to ideas or ways of doing things. They just want to be better and to make the world better. And best of all, they know they can -- and will. |
The 10 Principles of Burning ManBurning Man co-founder Larry Harvey wrote the Ten Principles in 2004 as guidelines for the newly-formed Regional Network. They were crafted not as a dictate of how people should be and act, but as a reflection of the community’s ethos and culture as it had organically developed since the event’s inception.
Radical Inclusion Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community. Gifting Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value. Decommodification In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience. Radical Self-reliance Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources. Join the conversation in the 10 Principles blog series. Radical Self-expression Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient. Communal Effort Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction. Civic Responsibility We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws. Leaving No Trace Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them. Participation Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart. Immediacy Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience. Nextlevelchurch.com statement below is lead by Neil Volz who was arrested along with Jack Abramoff in a lobbying scandall
OUR VISION STATEMENT"CREATING A PLACE THAT PEOPLE LOVE, SO THEY CAN EXPERIENCE A LOVING GOD!" OUR STRATEGY WE PURSUE GOD WITH PASSIONWe create environments for people to experience God through passionate worship and energetic messages. We know that our everyday lives are a reflection of who God is and want to resource people to seek Him every day. WE ARE LIFE-GIVINGWe want to be a breath of fresh air in every interaction. So, we strive to be genuine and value adding in all that we do. We are a friendly church where people can connect through authentic relationships. WE KEEP THE NEW PERSON IN MINDWe want to be a judgement-free place for people to experience God. We want to make it easy for people to invite their friends, regardless of their background - nothing spooky, kooky or weird. The messages are down-to-earth and can be applied to our everyday lives. WE DEVELOP LEADERS LIKE CRAZYWe believe future success is based on the quality and quantity of leaders we develop. We will invest in leaders, no matter their age, and we will push the next generation to the front and create opportunities for them to lead. WE DON'T TAKE OURSELVES TOO SERIOUSLYWe believe that church should be a fun place to be! We don't mind being goofy or laughing hard because life is just better when we're having fun! WE SEE POTENTIAL IN EVERYONEWe believe everyone has something to offer and that no one is too far gone or has a past too bad for God to use them. We know that one of the greatest ways to live out our faith is to serve others. So, we give people creative opportunities to help them discover their gifts and reach their God-given potential. WE ARE OUTWARDLY FOCUSEDWe view generosity as a way of life. We want to give beyond expectation and be intentional with our time, resources and our finance. WE DO LIFE TOGETHERWe believe that life is not meant to be lived alone. We all need a group of friends that make us better and keep us accountable. Authentic relationships make a big church feel small. THE MANIFESTO for Idle No MoreThe Treaties are nation to nation agreements between First Nations and the British Crown who are sovereign nations. The Treaties are agreements that cannot be altered or broken by one side of the two Nations. The spirit and intent of the Treaty agreements meant that First Nations peoples would share the land, but retain their inherent rights to lands and resources. Instead, First Nations have experienced a history of colonization which has resulted in outstanding land claims, lack of resources and unequal funding for services such as education and housing.
The state of Canada has become one of the wealthiest countries in the world by using the land and resources. Canadian mining, logging, oil and fishing companies are the most powerful in the world due to land and resources. Some of the poorest First Nations communities (such as Attawapiskat) have mines or other developments on their land but do not get a share of the profit. The taking of resources has left many lands and waters poisoned – the animals and plants are dying in many areas in Canada. We cannot live without the land and water. We have laws older than this colonial government about how to live with the land. Currently, this government is trying to pass many laws so that reserve lands can also be bought and sold by big companies to get profit from resources. They are promising to share this time…Why would these promises be different from past promises? We will be left with nothing but poisoned water, land and air. This is an attempt to take away sovereignty and the inherent right to land and resources from First Nations peoples. There are many examples of other countries moving towards sustainability, and we must demand sustainable development as well. We believe in healthy, just, equitable and sustainable communities and have a vision and plan of how to build them. Please join us in creating this vision. Our PrinciplesThe Association of British Muslims is guided by the following ten principles:
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In many ways successful people are just like unsuccessful people. They come from all sorts of backgrounds, all types of demographics, have all levels of education and experience and expertise.
In many ways successful people are the same as everyone else. Yet look closely and you'll see that in certain key ways, they are very, very different.
Here are the qualities that set exceptional people apart:
1. They hate playing politics.
Successful people can't stand playing politics -- and to some degree, people who play politics. They don't care about jockeying for promotions or trying to be "right" in a meeting.
A successful person's primary focus is on solving difficult problems and accomplishing cool things.
2. They love when others win.
Politically motivated people hate when other people earn praise or recognition; they instinctively feel that diminishes the light from their star.
Others aren't competitive, at least not in that way. They want to be recognized, but their accomplishments don't preclude others from doing great things, too. They want everyone else who does something awesome to get recognized, too.
3. They desperately want to see ideas come to fruition.
Maybe they love to dream up their own ideas. Or maybe they love to help others build out their ideas. Either way, successful people want to make things happen -- new, exciting, crazy, groundbreaking things.
Successful people don't want to manage what already exists; they want to create what doesn't exist -- yet.
4. They're meta-thinkers.
Successful people spend a lot of time thinking about thinking. They like to think about the best way to think about a goal or challenge or problem. They like to think about how to think differently and develop a different angle or approach or perspective.
They like to think about thinking, because when they find new ways to think, they find new ways to act.
5. They prefer to make or enhance the rules.
Meta-thinkers instinctively evaluate every rule -- and look for ways to improve it.
They prefer to figure things out. They see rules as problems to solve or challenges to overcome.
6. They believe nothing is sacred.
Successful people don't say, "Well, that's just the way it is." Instead they never feel what is must always be, because perspectives can be shifted. Laws of physics can be broken. Conventional wisdom may not be wisdom at all.
Even when something huge stands in their way, they know there's a way around it -- they just need to figure it out. Changing a paradigm makes new things possible.
7. They love solving problems.
Successful people constantly look for problems to solve: sometimes little, sometimes big, sometimes technical, sometimes business- or team-related.
Drop them into a static situation and they'll create "problems" they can solve.
8. They're great at self-assessment.
Why? They constantly evaluate what they do, and then work hard to be even better tomorrow than they are today.
More than anything, successful people are honest with themselves.
9. They embrace nontechnical feedback.
Successful people readily take input from others. And they definitely don't put up barriers to feedback. Feedback, especially critical feedback, is just another problem to solve. Becoming better is more important than their egos. That's because they don't see feedback as threatening -- they see feedback as enlightening. Plus they know they need a lot more feedback on interpersonal skills and personal growth than on technical skills.
Why? Technical issues are obvious. Because they are constantly self-assessing, successful people know their technical limitations better than anyone else. But what other issues might be standing in their way? (If you see what they need to improve on and tell them, you become their hero, because now they can solve a problem they weren't aware of.)
10. They actively create their future selves.
In general, successful people realize they are often their own worst enemy. They don't see themselves as controlled by external forces; they think the barrier between what they are and what they want is almost always them.
So they're constantly trying to be better tomorrow than they are today -- even if the people around them wish they would just give it a rest.
11. They adore taking things off their plates.
Look at pictures of Albert Einstein and you would think, "Dude, never changed clothes?" Nope -- but he did have a lot of identical clothing. He didn't want to waste brainpower figuring out what to wear every day.
Successful people have a similar tendency to systematize, not to be anal but to take small and large decisions off their plate so they don't have to waste time thinking about them. So they eat similar things, wear similar clothing, and create daily routines. They organize so they don't have to waste brain-share on things that don't really matter.
But don't confuse creating routines with being compulsive. Successful people will change a routine the moment they see a flaw or an opportunity to make an improvement. There's method to the apparent madness -- you just have to look for it.
12. They're awesome at leveraging self-reward.
Successful people almost always do the things they have to do before they tackle the things they want to do. They use what they want to do as a reward. And that means the more things they have to do, the more they'll get done.
(But that doesn't mean they're great at celebrating success. Because they're constantly trying to improve, a "big win" isn't big -- it's simply the outcome of all the things they did to make it come true.)
13. They believe they're in total control . . .
Many people feel luck has a lot to do with success or failure: If they succeed, luck played a part; if they fail, the odds just didn't go their way.
Successful people feel they have complete control over their success or failure. If they succeed, they caused it. If they fail, they caused it.
14. . . . So their egos don't suffer when they fail.
Successful people don't see failure as a blow to the ego. Failure can be fixed. A future self will figure it out.
Failure is just another problem to solve.
15. They do everything with intent.
Like Jason Bourne, successful people don't do "random." They always have a reason for what they do, because they're constantly thinking about why they do what they do.
They're not afraid. They're not emotionally attached to ideas or ways of doing things. They just want to be better and to make the world better.
And best of all, they know they can -- and will.
In many ways successful people are the same as everyone else. Yet look closely and you'll see that in certain key ways, they are very, very different.
Here are the qualities that set exceptional people apart:
1. They hate playing politics.
Successful people can't stand playing politics -- and to some degree, people who play politics. They don't care about jockeying for promotions or trying to be "right" in a meeting.
A successful person's primary focus is on solving difficult problems and accomplishing cool things.
2. They love when others win.
Politically motivated people hate when other people earn praise or recognition; they instinctively feel that diminishes the light from their star.
Others aren't competitive, at least not in that way. They want to be recognized, but their accomplishments don't preclude others from doing great things, too. They want everyone else who does something awesome to get recognized, too.
3. They desperately want to see ideas come to fruition.
Maybe they love to dream up their own ideas. Or maybe they love to help others build out their ideas. Either way, successful people want to make things happen -- new, exciting, crazy, groundbreaking things.
Successful people don't want to manage what already exists; they want to create what doesn't exist -- yet.
4. They're meta-thinkers.
Successful people spend a lot of time thinking about thinking. They like to think about the best way to think about a goal or challenge or problem. They like to think about how to think differently and develop a different angle or approach or perspective.
They like to think about thinking, because when they find new ways to think, they find new ways to act.
5. They prefer to make or enhance the rules.
Meta-thinkers instinctively evaluate every rule -- and look for ways to improve it.
They prefer to figure things out. They see rules as problems to solve or challenges to overcome.
6. They believe nothing is sacred.
Successful people don't say, "Well, that's just the way it is." Instead they never feel what is must always be, because perspectives can be shifted. Laws of physics can be broken. Conventional wisdom may not be wisdom at all.
Even when something huge stands in their way, they know there's a way around it -- they just need to figure it out. Changing a paradigm makes new things possible.
7. They love solving problems.
Successful people constantly look for problems to solve: sometimes little, sometimes big, sometimes technical, sometimes business- or team-related.
Drop them into a static situation and they'll create "problems" they can solve.
8. They're great at self-assessment.
Why? They constantly evaluate what they do, and then work hard to be even better tomorrow than they are today.
More than anything, successful people are honest with themselves.
9. They embrace nontechnical feedback.
Successful people readily take input from others. And they definitely don't put up barriers to feedback. Feedback, especially critical feedback, is just another problem to solve. Becoming better is more important than their egos. That's because they don't see feedback as threatening -- they see feedback as enlightening. Plus they know they need a lot more feedback on interpersonal skills and personal growth than on technical skills.
Why? Technical issues are obvious. Because they are constantly self-assessing, successful people know their technical limitations better than anyone else. But what other issues might be standing in their way? (If you see what they need to improve on and tell them, you become their hero, because now they can solve a problem they weren't aware of.)
10. They actively create their future selves.
In general, successful people realize they are often their own worst enemy. They don't see themselves as controlled by external forces; they think the barrier between what they are and what they want is almost always them.
So they're constantly trying to be better tomorrow than they are today -- even if the people around them wish they would just give it a rest.
11. They adore taking things off their plates.
Look at pictures of Albert Einstein and you would think, "Dude, never changed clothes?" Nope -- but he did have a lot of identical clothing. He didn't want to waste brainpower figuring out what to wear every day.
Successful people have a similar tendency to systematize, not to be anal but to take small and large decisions off their plate so they don't have to waste time thinking about them. So they eat similar things, wear similar clothing, and create daily routines. They organize so they don't have to waste brain-share on things that don't really matter.
But don't confuse creating routines with being compulsive. Successful people will change a routine the moment they see a flaw or an opportunity to make an improvement. There's method to the apparent madness -- you just have to look for it.
12. They're awesome at leveraging self-reward.
Successful people almost always do the things they have to do before they tackle the things they want to do. They use what they want to do as a reward. And that means the more things they have to do, the more they'll get done.
(But that doesn't mean they're great at celebrating success. Because they're constantly trying to improve, a "big win" isn't big -- it's simply the outcome of all the things they did to make it come true.)
13. They believe they're in total control . . .
Many people feel luck has a lot to do with success or failure: If they succeed, luck played a part; if they fail, the odds just didn't go their way.
Successful people feel they have complete control over their success or failure. If they succeed, they caused it. If they fail, they caused it.
14. . . . So their egos don't suffer when they fail.
Successful people don't see failure as a blow to the ego. Failure can be fixed. A future self will figure it out.
Failure is just another problem to solve.
15. They do everything with intent.
Like Jason Bourne, successful people don't do "random." They always have a reason for what they do, because they're constantly thinking about why they do what they do.
They're not afraid. They're not emotionally attached to ideas or ways of doing things. They just want to be better and to make the world better.
And best of all, they know they can -- and will.
WHAT JIHAD IS
- The Arabic word "jihad" is often translated as "holy war," but in a purely linguistic sense, the word " jihad" means struggling or striving.
- The arabic word for war is: "al-harb".
- In a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s), "jihad" has many meanings. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam.
- If military jihad is required to protect the faith against others, it can be performed using anything from legal, diplomatic and economic to political means. If there is no peaceful alternative, Islam also allows the use of force, but there are strict rules of engagement. Innocents - such as women, children, or invalids - must never be harmed, and any peaceful overtures from the enemy must be accepted.
- Military action is therefore only one means of jihad, and is very rare. To highlight this point, the Prophet Mohammed told his followers returning from a military campaign: "This day we have returned from the minor jihad to the major jihad," which he said meant returning from armed battle to the peaceful battle for self-control and betterment.
- In case military action appears necessary, not everyone can declare jihad. The religious military campaign has to be declared by a proper authority, advised by scholars, who say the religion and people are under threat and violence is imperative to defend them. The concept of "just war" is very important.
- The concept of jihad has been hijacked by many political and religious groups over the ages in a bid to justify various forms of violence. In most cases, Islamic splinter groups invoked jihad to fight against the established Islamic order. Scholars say this misuse of jihad contradicts Islam.
- Examples of sanctioned military jihad include the Muslims' defensive battles against the Crusaders in medieval times, and before that some responses by Muslims against Byzantine and Persian attacks during the period of the early Islamic conquests.
- Jihad is not a violent concept.
- Jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions. It is worth noting that the Koran specifically refers to Jews and Christians as "people of the book" who should be protected and respected. All three faiths worship the same God. Allah is just the Arabic word for God, and is used by Christian Arabs as well as Muslims.
- Military action in the name of Islam has not been common in the history of Islam. Scholars says most calls for violent jihad are not sanctioned by Islam.
- Warfare in the name of God is not unique to Islam. Other faiths throughout the world have waged wars with religious justifications
FOUR YEARS. GO. is a global call asking us to ...
It is the call to action, it is the declaration that each of us is sufficient to do our part, and it is the invitation for every man, woman, child, organization,
profession, and industry to take on what is ours to do - so that we have a planet that works for everyone.
What's at Stake
We are confronted with a time of great peril as a human species. The overwhelming majority of peer reviewed scientific scenarios warn that we are rapidly approaching perilous tipping points, after which life as we have known it will change irreversibly.
The extent of mounting crises is daunting - profound climate disruption, wide and deep poverty, global water shortages, loss of topsoil, depletion of fisheries, erosion of democracy, unsustainable population growth, mass extinction of plant and animal species, economic breakdown. And these crises are in fact completely inter-related.
More and more people are recognizing the urgency of the situation but seem unable to muster the vision and commitment needed to cause a change in course. Unless we break free of this gridlock, we will, tragically, end up where we are headed.
Unique Moment in History
We are living at a time of unparalleled opportunity. Yes, there are tremendous dangers but it is now clear that we already possess all the technologies and practical solutions required to resolve the crises confronting us.
And at the same time, powerful transformative trends are emerging, shaping a world ripe with new possibilities.
What's Missing
What is missing is a collective sense of possibility and the political and popular will to act - urgently, globally, collaboratively.
There is a limited window of opportunity, maybe just four years. Now is the time to execute our great turning; now is the time for people to get motivated and involved; now is the time to apply the solutions we already know. The next few years will determine the quality of life on this planet for the next 1,000. And we need to start now, on a worldwide scale.
Conventional wisdom, however, is that you can’t expect humanity to wake up until it is shocked into action by some global catastrophe or massively painful systemic breakdown. But by the time that happens it will almost certainly be too late.
Four Years. Go. is a campaign for humanity to take its future into its own hands, to wake itself up, and to motivate itself into action. And to do it now.
What's the Plan
There is no plan, at least no “master plan”, managed from the top
The path, instead, will be to foster a self-organizing, emerging open-space of collaboration and creativity among individuals, NGOs, companies and communities.
The idea is to incite a movement. And, for that movement to catalyze a newly vibrant world of wildly diverse and inspired initiatives to co-create a transformed human future.
Barbara Marx Hubbard from FOUR YEARS. GO. on YouTube.
Our vision: an environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the Earth.
It's time to scale up and fully take on this great work of shifting humanity's direction.
We are alive at a unique moment in time, with a limited window of opportunity to bring about the great shift that is required, toward a sustainable, just and thriving human presence on Earth.
Throughout the course of history, people have shown amazing ability to respond to the call of their generation – to rise to the occasion in ways unforeseen by their predecessors.
Your commitment and your action will make THE difference! Each of us has a role to play in ensuring we pass on a livable future to those who will follow us. Please join us.
From now on, securing a livable future needs to be a core defining focus of human activity.
THE POWER OF TAKING A STAND
FOUR YEARS.GO. presents the opportunity for each us to take a stand for the world thatwe want to create, and to commit in word and deed to the actions that will secure this future as our destiny by the end of 2014. Actions change the world we live in - what is the power of taking a stand?
The FOUR YEARS.GO. initiative represents the commitment to build the collective will for the transformation of how we live on this planet.
The most powerful first step an individual can make is to take a stand for this transformation.
When we have taken a stand, the world shifts. When we have taken a stand new possibilities and opportunities show up, that weren’t evident before. We see the world with new eyes.
Taking a stand is always for something, never against or in opposition to. Positions create opposition and resistance. Taking a stand creates an opening, and an opening creates room for other people to be involved.
Taking a stand is something we do despite the circumstances. It is something we do from our hearts, from our passion. Against the odds. When we take a stand, we commit to something coming into being that would not happen without taking a stand.
Taking a stand allows for the impossible to become possible, and for the possible to become real. Without someone taking a stand, nothing important happens. It is an essential step in creating our new world.
From our stand, we take action; and from having taken a stand our actions have a power and effectiveness that they never would have without taking a stand. Our stands are nothing if we never take action, of course. And without a stand our actions lack power.
MULTIPLYING YOUR IMPACT:
Invite your friends, loved ones and colleagues to take a stand with you for a thriving, just and sustainable world to be the guiding principle of our time. And invite them to take the actions that are consistent with that commitment. When you invite others it multiplies the difference you make. When everybody does this, our power grows exponentially, and the numbers grow very fast.
With millions of people standing for a powerful, just and sustainable world by 2014 - miracles can happen. The actions we take collectively inside of our stands can deliver on the promise of our time.
Declare your stand now, and invite your friends to do the same!
The Communications Team of Four Years. Go consists of all volunteers, including Mark Bachelder, Beverly Schler and John Renesch in the U.S., Gabi Dragonmir in Canada, John Veitch and Peter Sundstrom in New Zealand, and Olanike Olugboji in Nigeria.
If you are interested in joining the team, contact [email protected].
- Wake Up to the enormous harm we are doing to the Earth and to ourselves;
- Wake Up to the profound opportunity we have now to create a future to match our deepest longing and boldest dreams;
- Become agents in redirecting humanity's current path from self-destruction to sustainability;
- Do It Now. We don't need to wait for any one or anything. And complete it by the end of 2014.
It is the call to action, it is the declaration that each of us is sufficient to do our part, and it is the invitation for every man, woman, child, organization,
profession, and industry to take on what is ours to do - so that we have a planet that works for everyone.
What's at Stake
We are confronted with a time of great peril as a human species. The overwhelming majority of peer reviewed scientific scenarios warn that we are rapidly approaching perilous tipping points, after which life as we have known it will change irreversibly.
The extent of mounting crises is daunting - profound climate disruption, wide and deep poverty, global water shortages, loss of topsoil, depletion of fisheries, erosion of democracy, unsustainable population growth, mass extinction of plant and animal species, economic breakdown. And these crises are in fact completely inter-related.
More and more people are recognizing the urgency of the situation but seem unable to muster the vision and commitment needed to cause a change in course. Unless we break free of this gridlock, we will, tragically, end up where we are headed.
Unique Moment in History
We are living at a time of unparalleled opportunity. Yes, there are tremendous dangers but it is now clear that we already possess all the technologies and practical solutions required to resolve the crises confronting us.
And at the same time, powerful transformative trends are emerging, shaping a world ripe with new possibilities.
- Global communication technology is connecting people together around the globe, creating the beginnings of a global consciousness
- The paradigm of a living universe is challenging our mindset of separation and re-establishing humanity’s deep inter-connection with all of nature
- The concept and image of Spaceship Earth is restructuring our sense of self interest and has elevated sustainability to an everyday concern
What's Missing
What is missing is a collective sense of possibility and the political and popular will to act - urgently, globally, collaboratively.
There is a limited window of opportunity, maybe just four years. Now is the time to execute our great turning; now is the time for people to get motivated and involved; now is the time to apply the solutions we already know. The next few years will determine the quality of life on this planet for the next 1,000. And we need to start now, on a worldwide scale.
Conventional wisdom, however, is that you can’t expect humanity to wake up until it is shocked into action by some global catastrophe or massively painful systemic breakdown. But by the time that happens it will almost certainly be too late.
Four Years. Go. is a campaign for humanity to take its future into its own hands, to wake itself up, and to motivate itself into action. And to do it now.
What's the Plan
There is no plan, at least no “master plan”, managed from the top
The path, instead, will be to foster a self-organizing, emerging open-space of collaboration and creativity among individuals, NGOs, companies and communities.
The idea is to incite a movement. And, for that movement to catalyze a newly vibrant world of wildly diverse and inspired initiatives to co-create a transformed human future.
Barbara Marx Hubbard from FOUR YEARS. GO. on YouTube.
Our vision: an environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the Earth.
It's time to scale up and fully take on this great work of shifting humanity's direction.
We are alive at a unique moment in time, with a limited window of opportunity to bring about the great shift that is required, toward a sustainable, just and thriving human presence on Earth.
Throughout the course of history, people have shown amazing ability to respond to the call of their generation – to rise to the occasion in ways unforeseen by their predecessors.
Your commitment and your action will make THE difference! Each of us has a role to play in ensuring we pass on a livable future to those who will follow us. Please join us.
From now on, securing a livable future needs to be a core defining focus of human activity.
THE POWER OF TAKING A STAND
FOUR YEARS.GO. presents the opportunity for each us to take a stand for the world thatwe want to create, and to commit in word and deed to the actions that will secure this future as our destiny by the end of 2014. Actions change the world we live in - what is the power of taking a stand?
The FOUR YEARS.GO. initiative represents the commitment to build the collective will for the transformation of how we live on this planet.
The most powerful first step an individual can make is to take a stand for this transformation.
When we have taken a stand, the world shifts. When we have taken a stand new possibilities and opportunities show up, that weren’t evident before. We see the world with new eyes.
Taking a stand is always for something, never against or in opposition to. Positions create opposition and resistance. Taking a stand creates an opening, and an opening creates room for other people to be involved.
Taking a stand is something we do despite the circumstances. It is something we do from our hearts, from our passion. Against the odds. When we take a stand, we commit to something coming into being that would not happen without taking a stand.
Taking a stand allows for the impossible to become possible, and for the possible to become real. Without someone taking a stand, nothing important happens. It is an essential step in creating our new world.
From our stand, we take action; and from having taken a stand our actions have a power and effectiveness that they never would have without taking a stand. Our stands are nothing if we never take action, of course. And without a stand our actions lack power.
MULTIPLYING YOUR IMPACT:
Invite your friends, loved ones and colleagues to take a stand with you for a thriving, just and sustainable world to be the guiding principle of our time. And invite them to take the actions that are consistent with that commitment. When you invite others it multiplies the difference you make. When everybody does this, our power grows exponentially, and the numbers grow very fast.
With millions of people standing for a powerful, just and sustainable world by 2014 - miracles can happen. The actions we take collectively inside of our stands can deliver on the promise of our time.
Declare your stand now, and invite your friends to do the same!
The Communications Team of Four Years. Go consists of all volunteers, including Mark Bachelder, Beverly Schler and John Renesch in the U.S., Gabi Dragonmir in Canada, John Veitch and Peter Sundstrom in New Zealand, and Olanike Olugboji in Nigeria.
If you are interested in joining the team, contact [email protected].