Fame or integrity: which is more important? Money or happiness: which is more valuable? Success or failure: which is more destructive? If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher

Last night, I rode my bike to a coffee shop near my house. I love it that I can take off on my bike and in a few moments arrive at a few good restaurants, three coffee shops, my dentist, my church, a theatre, my chiropractor, acres of woods with some fun single track biking trails and even to the homes of a few friends.

I pasted the county courthouse that looks like the courthouse in the movie Back to the Future. As I rode, I remembered walking through my neighborhood recently and thinking how much Maryville mirrors fictional towns Mayberry or Mitford (from the book series by Jan Karon). I took some pictures of old historic homes and other sights. If you are interested in seeing them, I’ll gladly post. There are not the caliber of my friend Lynn Freeney but I have a copy of cool shots. Just walking while observing with a keen eye made me grateful for the Rich life I lead.

At the coffee shop, I watched the crescent moon come up over our village as I talked with a new friend who has made it. He has taken a business from a print newsletter written in 1995 and turned it into a business that lets him living the life he always dreamed (a true 4-hours work week guy). I want to do that. I realized how much I yearned for the “Rich life” he had - limitless time with my wife and kids, gratifying non-profit work, more time with extended family and friends, travel experiences to allow my kids to see the world. I want to be in a position to help others at a higher level of commitment as he and his wife do each summer at a camp in Asheville, NC. Some say, just stating your goal moves you toward it. I think it’s a lot more than that but here for the world to see, it’s stated…I want to live right, and live rich.

My friend gave me a gift and one I’ll tell you about but only if 10 people let me know they want to know it. Don’t worry, it’s not Network Marketing, the four spiritual laws, the Law of Attraction, The Secret, or prize in the bottom of the Cracker Jacks. I’ll show you the pictures for free but the gift will cost you something though you won’t have to give either of us money, as there is no money involved. It’s much better than money. I won’t have to kill you if I tell you that they say in the spy movies. You’ll just have to want to know and be willing to share the gift. I’ll show you the pictures for free - just ask. The gift? It’s going to cost you!

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Starting October 26th, join the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party for a 24-hour party! It’s an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. I’ll be blogging about the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and other things. Visit the WBBP site to sign up! .

For information on inspirational speaker Tim Richardson, go to www.TimRichardson.com

Funny how things work out. Yesterday, I wrote about giving advice to someone. Today I received some. I had lamented to my good friend Bruce Turkel that the Richest People in America project, was moving more slowly than I had hoped. He wrote me an incredible email of support. I wish for everyone a friend as supportive and giving as my buddy Bruce. Here’s what he wrote:“Welcome to the world of the visionaries. Unfortunately, what you’re experiencing is what designers, artists and most good creative people go through all the time. We are aware of things before others are and then have a heck of a time trying to sell our ideas to people who don’t ‘get it’ yet.The author of the design column for Automobile Magazine, Robert Cumberford, said it best: “Designers see things before other people do. That’s what they’re paid to do.”

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

Today of course is St. Valentine’s Day. The day of love. True love can’t exist without forgiveness. Which is the topic of my post today. Recently, I spoke with The Reverend Lyndon F. Harris who was the priest in charge of the relief ministries at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. His story is an incredible example of love in action.

Harris joined the staff of Trinity Church/ Saint Paul’s Chapel in April 2001 in order to develop an alternative urban worship program at Saint Paul’s. However, from September 15, 2001 to June 2, 2002, Saint Paul’s Chapel was converted into a multi-faith relief center for the rescue and relief workers, and victim’s family members, at the World Trade Center site. Saint Paul’s offered food, massage therapy, grief counseling, and chiropractic and podiatric care around the clock. By the end of the operation, over one half million meals were served.

In 2004, Harris founded the Sacred City Project, a non profit that seeks to bring together the faith communities so active in the months following 9/11 in order to work for peace. The premiere initiative of this non profit is to create Gardens of Forgiveness at Ground Zero and around the world, as places for reflection, healing, and conflict transformation, as well as venues for educational programs on forgiveness as a strategy for peacemaking.

As a chaplain at Ground Zero in New York, one of the most important responsibilities Harris had was to say prayers over the remains of the dead as they were uncovered. Every day as he walked through this devastating place devastation, the question that came to his mind again and again was, “How in God’s name—literally—how in God’s name do we end this cycle of violence and revenge?” He had no immediate answer. It was not until he learned of the work of Alexandra Asseily and the courageous people of Lebanon who have embraced the idea of a Garden of Forgiveness in central Beirut that an answer came to him. Forgiveness.

Based on his experience at Ground Zero, Harris founded the Sacred City Project (Sacred City, Inc.), an educational non profit that seeks to bring together the world’s religions to work for peace at the epicenter of the violence perpetrated on 9/11 by religious extremists. The premiere effort of the Sacred City Project is the development of a Garden of Forgiveness at Ground Zero, and a Global Gardens of Forgiveness Network in which every community in the world is encouraged to create a Garden of Forgiveness, a place where we can reflect on all the horrors that can happen to us as individuals, and then decide to make the world a better place by choosing not to reciprocate violence for violence. As Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye leaves both eyes blind,” and there’s too much violence in the world. Gardens of Forgiveness seek to replace “an eye for an eye” with “an eye for a heart.”

According to Harris, “forgiveness does not mean that we condone evil acts, or that we let evildoers off the hook for doing evil things. It does not mean we cannot defend ourselves. Forgiveness is not weakness. Forgiveness means that we give up all hope for a better past and then, with courage, create a new future: a future beyond violence, retribution, and revenge”. The Sacred City Project and the Global Gardens of Forgiveness Network seeks to heal the past and create the future—one Garden of Forgiveness at a time. Check out www.gofnyc.org

Say I love you this week by asking someone to forgive you. It’s powerful stuff…

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

My friend Laurie Leslie, sent an email late last night which said: “These postings are great!  You’re officially added to my list of people’s blogs that I obsessively look at each day.” Because of her, I wrote back telling her that I felt I HAD to write before heading out of town this morning. So with the disclaimer below (required reading) and with great haste, I make today’s entry. This entry was in fact inspired by a post on her blog (see my links).  

The question was posed in Laurie’s blog: What stirs up your soul? I will address this question in more detail soon. It’s actually a point in my Living Rich keynote speech. I believe with all my heart and soul that nothing stirs up your soul like giving. Here’s my take: From continuously giving, you’ll experience continuous receiving.

Tomorrow, I hope to meet someone I have only spoken with on the phone. His name is Nagesh Roy. Every Saturday for over 16 years, Nagesh stirs up his soul by serving.
And.  he’s not missed one Saturday in those years (unless sick).  Starting in 1991, Nagesh has made sandwiches to give to the homeless in
Atlanta.  Initially, he started serving them through his temple but now just does it with a group of fourteen or fifteen friends.  On any given week, Nagesh and his friends serve about 100 homeless men, woman and children. He collects food (canned soup, sandwiches, apples, cookies, etc) to distribute to the hungry men and women in the
Atlanta area.  If he happens to be on vacation, he   makes sandwiches wherever he is. On the rare occasion when he is sick and isn’t able to serve, he told me he feels incomplete (translation: his soul doesn’t get stirred).

Serving has become his passion.  So much so that he even takes his service mentality to his employer – Fedex Kinko’s. Every day at work, he gives 15-20 minutes more than expected, work for which he doesn’t charge his employer.  It seems to have paid off, as Nagesh manages one of the top stores in the entire company.  The great thing about this is that he doesn’t tell anyone he is doing it and it almost always involves helping someone.

When he first moved to
Atlanta he decided that he would work for the Olympic Committee.  When they found out what he did on Saturday’s he was asked to carry the torch through a section of
Atlanta.  As he ran through the city, in the very area he served meals, those who he had fed, cheered him on as he ran (hum the Chariot’s of Fire theme music while you read the remainder of this for maximum motivation and inspiration). 

What a fitting example of the notion that what comes around goes around.  Though I don’t believe your motivation for doing something good should be the expectation that when you do something good, it will come back to you. I think that it is a universal principle that seems to repeat itself over and over again.

What you think? I’d like your thoughts on if you think there a correlation between his giving and his receiving AND to know what stirs YOUR soul?

Disclaimer: With this, and every blog entry, I run the risk of offending my English teachers. If you see grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors, don’t call the grammar police, please send an email with your observation, correction or suggestion. In fact, I am looking for an editorial board, to occasionally bounce ideas and entries for this blog.

If interested, please apply at:

 www.ICanHelpTimKeepFromEmbarrassingHimselfOnline.com

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com