Sentence Completion

If I bring 5 percent more awareness to my life...

1. I will be more focused.
2. I will repeat mistakes less often.
3. I will know more of what brings me joy.
   

The things that make me happy are...

1. helping others.
2. the outdoors.
3. building community.
4. being liked by others.
   

To bring 5 percent more happiness to my life...

1. I will raise the bar and continue the climb to my personal peak.
2. I will excel at each step along the way to my personal peak.
3. I will hold happiness as paramount.
4. I will learn the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Past, Future, & Present

I have an intense need to explain how our world got to where it is today. This need bubbles up from the depths of my being so fervently that I am inclined to think it is innate, and thus put forth no effort to explain this curiosity.

Why are we here?

In Life, The Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams artfully described a phenomenon in our culture that is focused on the answer without ever delving into the question. The answer to life, the universe, and everything - he says - is 42. What point was he trying to make with this ludicrous statement?

Since the dawn of written language about 7000 years ago, mankind as a whole has painstakingly and eloquently sought the answer to our origin without giving proper attention to why we are looking.

Why do we care to look?

Another way to describe our search for our origin is to say that we are trying to figure out how we got to where we are. Why would one seek to retrace his footsteps along a journey? Perhaps he is lost: unsure of where he is and where he is going.

Have we lost our way?

Suppose you were to turn on the news. What would you see? "Bad news is good news." Depending on where you live and what season it is, you may look to the weather report as a source of occasional good news. Either irrational pessimism has swept the planet (a possibility), or our world is getting worse with each passing day.

Our worldwide culture has tunnel vision. We have very little perspective from which to judge our location and direction.

Where are we headed?

No one knows exactly where we are going, but we have some big clues.

1. Our population is growing with ever-increasing food supply and distribution.
2. Our supply of liquid energy sources is ever-decreasing.
3. Food production and distribution will get more expensive as oil becomes more scarce.
4. Conclusion: Many billions will starve. Chaos will erupt as governments are not able to quell the angry stomachs.

If you agree that 1, 2, and 3 are true, then the conclusion should be apparent. Chaos means more when you live in it. America is not immune. Here is my question:

What should we do now?

Please think about it and post your thoughts.