THE RICHES WE ALL INHERITED

We are all the beneficiaries of a legacy of untold treasure, unlimited wealth and prosperity,

especially in two areas of our lives. One of these is just now receiving widespread attention, the other is a major part of most of our lives--but we may not appreciate the immensity of the gifts to us both represent. I'm talking about our national parks and the Internet. They each, in their own way, give every one of us access to what was, throughout most of human history, the province of the very wealthy or the royal among us.

I was reminded of this watching the premiere of the new film series by Ken Burns, The National Parks, subtitled America's Best Idea. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to travel slowly up and down and across these United States have a sense of its natural beauty and the hugeness of its landscape. But think about this: Up until about 150 years ago, the most beautiful views in all the world were largely reserved for the rich. In other parts of the world, you either had to be very very wealthy or the member of a royal family to own and enjoy the most beautiful and nourishing natural vistas. The creators of this amazing system of natural parks, including naturalist John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt, felt the most majestic sites of natural beauty should belong to everyone and be preserved forever for the public good. Whenever someone rants about "government control," this is an often overlooked example of how government acted in the interest and to the great benefit of all human beings.

Just imagine what would have happened at Yellowstone and Yosemite or Grand Canyon if unfettered commercial development had occurred. The way this almost ruined Niagara Falls

with different entrepreneurs creating shoddy tourist traps at every overlook inspired some of the early enthusiasm for some way to protect natural beauty for future generations.

Do you want to get a sense of how rich you really are? Visit a national park, or several, and

realize this all belongs to you and your family--forever. Check out this article for more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/best-government-dollar-sp_b_302305.html

And much the same consciousness was present in the people who created and nurtured this amazing phenomenon known as the Internet, and the World Wide Web. (by the way, these two terms describe two different but related entities and are not synonymous--as noted in the following article)

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2002/Web_vs_Internet.asp

In bygone eras, ordinary people couldn't even own a book--only the wealthy, religious leaders, and members of royalty had unlimited access to the world's knowledge and wisdom. And no matter how rich or powerful and high born you were, you would not have been able to tap more than an infinitesimal fraction of the information more than a billion people can now see and hear and learn every day as they surf the Internet. And despite some efforts to take the free aspect away from this bastion of democracy and freedom, there is a powerful consensus to preserve it for future generations as a tool available for everyone.

The national parks and the Internet--perhaps the two prime examples of democracy in action. Do you really appreciate them? Do you realize how wealthy they really make you? Does just thinking about either put a smile on your face? Maybe Ken Burns can do the Internet as one of his next projects.

Jerry

PROSPERITY AND READING AND PASSION

I recently read one of my stories in Chicken Soup For The Prisoner's Soul called The Great Escape. It starts out, "I have escaped from prison more times than I can count, thanks to my passion for reading books." I was surprised the title alone didn't bring me unwanted attention from prison authorities when I mailed it out (all prison mail has to be dropped in the mailbox unsealed, so spot checks are part of the process).

I've always believed that what largely separates people from all classes and walks of life is whether or not they are readers. Of both fiction and nonfiction.

I've always winced when a fellow speaker or workshop leader would say to me,

"Oh I read a lot of books, and they're all about business, motivation, and self-help." When I ask if they ever sit down with a novel, they back away as if I suggested they spend their time in some totally frivolous pursuit. But while self-help books offer some useful instructions for life, novels are life.

They reflect, no matter how imaginary their content, the perspectives of an observant life led by the author. And I firmly believe people who read novels are more interesting than people who don't. And more interesting people attract more success in life, a richer, fuller existence.

I wrote in that Chicken Soup piece, "Through the magic provided by books, I no longer have to lay on my narrow bunk with severe restrictions on my movement or schedule. Instead, I can fly to the Middle East on a secret peace mission for my government, walk along the hills and valleys of eighteenth-century New England, or fall in love and raise a family in Paris. Books have always been my passport to enrich both my mind and spirit, but now they are essential to my emotional survival. Any book can lift me out of my confined existence. The best ones are those where I vanish into the pages, moved by the author's language and imagination."

When was the last time you vanished into some pages? I ended up reading over 1000 books during 12 years of incarceration. And I have to give a lot of credit to that fact for the heightened creativity, focus, productivity I've been enjoying since my release. At least 80% of that were novels.

And I've noticed an interesting phenomenon that I've never seen discussed before. Most novels are not about someone achieving financial success, they are about richer things than that with material gain merely a sidebar. They reflect my fuller definition of prosperity as about much more than money, about love and creative satisfaction, and friendship, and an interesting and adventurous life well-lived. I think they have it right.

If you haven't done so recently, pick up a book and have your own great escape.

Jerry

In terms of nonfiction books, I just recently listed the five I would most like to see updated by their authors, now all deceased, on my prosperity-focused blog, www.MoneyloveBlog.com You can also access the opt-in link to download free my new book, The Moneylove Manifesto.

THE PROSPEROUS POWER OF INTENTION

This is about the biggest secret in the universe. Despite the huge readership of Napoleon Hill's Think And Grow Rich, which in its very title revealed that secret, despite the huge viewership of the film The Secret, despite my talking for over thirty years about this concept of enrolling your subconscious mind as your primary ally--despite all of this, most people have not gotten it yet. Perhaps it's an evolutionary process and most people just aren't ready yet.

On the other hand, perhaps we're all ready and just haven't believed it enough to put it into action. It's all about The Power of Intention. What do you intend for yourself--this must come before you start attracting what you want. I remember a psychologist many years ago, whose name is long forgotten though his important message is not, saying that nothing is more vital that what you intend for yourself. Do you intend to fail or do you intend to succeed? Do you intend for next year to be the same as this year or better? The one comment I think is most impressive about someone you admire is, "She certainly has made the most of her life."

Have you made the most of your life? Whatever your situation, can you honestly say you have gotten to where you intended to get?

And here I'll reveal to you one of my big secrets for being happy most of the time. It's pretty simple. It's loving your mind. Not just paying lip service when you hear how powerful your mind and subconscious are, but truly loving them for their awesome power, their faithful obedience to your every desire.

I have always loved the way my mind works, the magical thoughts and ideas it comes up with the delight and often surprise me. It's one of the reasons I've always avoid mind-altering substances. While I don't judge others for what they tend to do, I have always felt that taking drugs is like tossing a rotting pile of garbage on someone you love. And I don't drink alcohol, smoke, or even drink coffee for the same reason. I suggest to you that if you love your mind, you will also avoid these substances. Left to its own natural devices, your mind will give you everything you want. And the first step is your intention.

Jerry

EVERYTHING ELSE

This blog is now about everything else in my life--everything other than prosperity, success, and my Moneylove projects. For that abundance stuff, my new blog is available at:

http://moneyloveblog.com/

Of course, everything in my life is really about prosperity, especially when you accept that prosperity is about much more than money--it's about health, and creative joy, and love, and all the good things one could hope and dream about.

And it's all very connected. For instance, in my new book, The Moneylove Manifesto, available for you to download free at: http://moneyloveblog.com/manifesto/,

I mention Maggie Steincrohn Davis, who was my relationship partner during the period I was creating Moneylove, and with whom I spent two years traveling around the U.S. and Canada in our customized motorhome. We both felt it was silly to wait until we were at retirement age to enjoy that lifestyle. It was an amazing adventure--for awhile it almost looked like it would be made into a movie starring Meg Ryan, but that's a whole other story. Maggie has remained a nurturing, supportive friend all these years. She's an amazing woman, as you can see when you check out:

http://heartsongbooks.com/bio.html

Anyway, in an email exchange just yesterday, she sent me a quote from her book, Caring In

Remembered Ways, which had a line I just fell in love with. See if you can guess which line:

Caring in remembered ways is caring in ways the heart knows and the world longs for. It is being all we are for the sake of all of us, moving beyond courtesy and kindness and empathy to the living compassion—the fruit of seeing deeply—that enlivens all the rest.

No lights swirled while I was writing. I heard no voices. I saw no spirits. My guide was my own knowing. Many years I've spent recognizing my own knowing. More years I've spent trying to live it, first for my good, mostly—now, for greater good.

I confess I could have condensed this book into one sentence. See deeply the beauty and interconnectedness of all life; then think, speak and act from what you see. This understanding is the touchstone I hold my choices to and the ideal I grow toward. My lifework is to embody this understanding, planting seeds of it wherever I go.

I dedicate Caring in Remembered Ways to healing professionals and volunteers—all caregivers, in whatever setting—who long to be more present and tender. I dedicate it to parents and teachers who wish to be better role models for children, to all people young and older—well or in pain, joyful or sorrowing—who, regardless of world (or personal) predicament, aspire to live purposeful, nurturing lives. I dedicate it to creatures of air and earth and water all around.

Ways of being as well as ways of caring weave throughout the words I've written here. Surely, no one can say where being ends and caring begins. Who we are colors all we do and give.

As you read on, I hope you feel we are sitting together—you who hold my book in your hands and I, who have put myself into its pages. Perhaps you will be reminded of your own growing and caring times and of all you might have written here, as well. The practical mercies, revelations, stories, personal accounts, challenges, and ponderings that follow are echoes of the wisdom living deep in every heart.

It was the line in the above paragraph: "I hope you feel we are sitting together--you who hold my book in your hands and I, who have put myself into its pages." What a great image for the connection between writer and reader. And it is exactly what I tried to achieve with The Moneylove Manifesto and will try even more so to create in the upcoming revised and annotated edition of the original Moneylove. And on both my blogs as well. Thank you for sitting with me for this one.

Jerry