The world is on fire. I never felt it so clearly as now. Perhaps it was on fire all this time and is it only now that I notice. Or we are as a whole really moving in a disturbing direction. I feel angry and sad. And I feel frustrated too because I think I have contribution to make that is both needed and urgent but apart from harvesting a lot of pats on the back I don’t get my project moving as fast as I would like it to move.
Three days ago a plane filled with primarily Dutch tourists was shot out of the sky by pro-Russian rebels in the Ukraine, a week or so ago Hamas and the IDF went to mini-war against each other and ISIS is doing their best to cause death and destruction in Syria and Iraq. Due to the new function on Facebook to play videos without clicking on them in combination with the many contacts I have in the Arab world and their habit to show death from close up I can now see beheadings and executions first thing in the morning, today combined with dead Palestinian children and the bodies and body parts of my countrymen in a desolate field somewhere in the Ukraine.
On Facebook I shared a personal experience. When I was in Texas in 2009 my friend took me for target practice, very much like how I take my foreign guests to see a coffee shop (the hash and weed kind) in Amsterdam. What shocked me was the user friendliness of the automatic weapons we were firing. I never gave it any thought: how it would feel to shoot a gun. In my childhood I had seen Rambo and I always thought you would need strong arms with cuts and veins and everything to use an M16. But it was very easy to spray a lot of bullits around. Somebody figured out a way how to kill a lot of people without getting blisters on your fingers. I will never forget the moment I realized that. I was given a peek into the darkness of our collective soul. It is not that some obscure crazy scientist comes up with something unthinkable, no we have a whole multi-billion dollar industry that employs our smartest engineers to come up with the most efficient ways to comfortably kill and maim with the least amount of effort. It is perverse.
The way we treat each other, the way we treat ourselves and our planet, the leaders we choose to follow and the priorities we cherish reveal our nature and our state as a species. I think we are emotionally and spiritually very unhealthy. I want to slam my face against my desk when I see how huge amounts of people apparently in their right mind are willing to vote for candidates who have obvious personality disorders. In the Netherlands we have a politician who has created a large following by saying hurtful things about Muslims. I don’t even think he is racist, he just found a way to be admired and loves the attention and the power. But I also think he is capable of doing deeply immoral things just to maintain his status as strong and courageous leader. I wonder if it is true that we plainly deserve the leaders and systems we have created.
But there is a solution. It is a very simple, beautiful and feasible solution and that solution is change. Now what was your first intuitive response? Was it ‘they will never change?’ or was it ‘you can’t change things’. Did you realize that YOU can change? And what is your response now? ‘Why should I change, I didn’t shoot that plane out of the sky!’ Did you in any way reject the feeling of having a responsibility, giving voice to your inner resistance to change?
We all want things to change but don’t want to do the work. Or we would like to change some things but just for our own benefit. If I would be a better entrepreneur I would be richer, if I look better I would sleep with more women, if I reduce my stress levels I would be happier and more productive. Very few of us really look forward to being selfless which is not too strange because we have no concept of it and it is threatening to our identity.
My invitation is to train your heart to be open. Just like you can make your muscles grow by lifting weights you can increase your wisdom and kindness with a bit of daily practice. Over years the results will be immense because unlike your biceps the openness of your heart has no limits. What you will learn in the process is to become more real, more vulnerable and happier. By committing yourself to change, you will change. Your life will change. Your relationship with life will change.
I created a program that is called the 100 Day Warrior, you can find it on this site. I think our society desperately needs inspiring and honest leadership. So I created a unique program that offers both physical and inner transformation. I want my candidates to develop physically, emotionally and spiritually. The goal is to become stronger, wiser, warmer than we ever felt before and to join forces. I am looking for outstanding creatives and entrepreneurs. Why? Because I truly believe that when expert communicators, media strategists, art directors and entrepreneurs start feeling their premordial kindness, have plenty of physical energy and each others support they can and will find ways to share an appealing and inspiring vision of love, creativity and wisdom with millions of other people.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Sounds believable too, don’t you think?
You will be amazed how little support I receive. I feel like I am trying to push a precious car out of the mud. Many people think it is very courageous to attempt such a thing and applaud me for trying. ‘Wow, do you see that guy? He is trying to push a precious car out of the mud! Amazing!’ Nobody seems to realize that it takes only 3 or 4 people to push the car out of the mud. And if I tell them they might say ‘ok, I might come back if you find 3 other people’ or ‘good luck with finding the other people, buddy! I really hope you will!’ It is almost surreal. I have to come up with all kinds of strategies to convince people why it is in their benefit to help me. And although I fully understand how difficult it is to take decision that most likely will change your life, I resent the fact that I have to ‘sell’ it to you. Because it is so obvious to me that unleashing our collective potential and letting as many others as we can benefit from it can only bring amazingness to our lives. It will add meaning to our existence.
So to my successful entrepreneurial, creative and visionary friends from Amsterdam, I will ask you straight up: will you help me create positive change in this world on fire? We are already with 4 amazing people and I need 2-4 more. You will learn to change yourself first, in a way that will blow your mind, guided by highly qualified professionals. And when our hearts are open, our minds clear and our bodies strong we will find ways to transmit our vision to others. You owe it to humanity to become the best version of you. We must do good with our talents. We must start now.
If you feel the call, contact me.
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