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Your Very Own Personal “Life Instruction” Manual

Most all of the known faith traditions (and certainly Christianity) teach that God created humankind as the most awesome and complex species of beings on the face of this earth. Yet unfortunately, the way we most often experience or view our life is anything but awesome. We often find ourselves asking how our lives can be so uninspiring, stressful, confusing, chaotic, empty or unfulfilling. Why do we frequently feel so alone, unloved, directionless and adrift? Why such a lack of purpose, passion and power? Why do we keep making the same poor choices? Why can’t we get in control of our lives? What’s missing?

For one thing, we were never given an “instruction manual.”

So, the question we must face today is: Just how do we operate this wonderful, marvelous, super-complicated, delicately balanced, one-of-a-kind “machine” that we are? Most of us don’t have the first clue, and those who do have spent a good 40 to 50 years using trial and error to figure it out. By the time we arrive at that point in our lives, we’re usually too exhausted to do much with the information, even assuming we’re still mentally sound and moderately healthy.

Without an “instruction manual,” life can be likened to giving a 10-year-old a supersonic aircraft for Christmas and telling him, “It’s all yours, so take a joy ride.” The first thing he will more than likely do with his new “toy,” and even more so if he isn’t provided directions, is haphazardly crash and burn. And isn’t that exactly what many of us have done, time and time again? Helplessly and without direction, we’ve flamed out, sometimes leaving in our wake terrible casualties for all aboard (i.e., our family, friends, co-workers, etc.).

In creating of God on the Net, I envisioned using the Internet to provide a personal instruction manual for life for those who might seek guidance to avoid such flameouts. You need to be aware that many of the teachings you will find, on both the web site and in this book, have been culled directly from ancient Hebrew, Byzantine and Eastern wisdom literature. And frankly, a good number of the insights and suggestions you’ll find within result from decades of trial and error in my own personal experience – meaning that, having made more than my share of mistakes (and also having produced more than my share of results), I’ve continuously tried my best to learn from them. Along the way to creating God on the Net, I devoured more than 500 books on quantum physics, theology, philosophy, psychoneuroimmunology, psychology, neurolinguisticprogramming, behavioral science and various wisdom traditions. I also attended a multitude of seminars, workshops and lectures. Discovering that one of the best ways to learn is to teach, I also taught, counseled and interviewed hundreds of individuals, to help them discover what could be “missing” in their lives. My “day job” as CEO of the Children’s Hunger Relief Fund (www.chrf.org), one of America’s leading children’s charities, offered the privilege of traveling the world distributing life-saving aid to children and families – more than $250,000,000 worth since 1975.

So…in light of all this, what have I learned after a quarter-century of study and observation of incredible human successes and resounding defeats, soaring joys and heart-crushing sorrows?

Well, to employ an old cliché (in some ways that possibly will be new to you) life is a game. It has a beginning and an end. It can be exciting, boring, fun or devastating. Most important, as with any game, it has rules, which we ignore at tremendous cost to ourselves and maybe others as well.

In this game we also see the “MVPs” – superstars, if you will – at the game of life who have mastered the rules and can serve as role models or “coaches” to those still learning. But have you ever asked yourself: Why are they so successful – not just at their chosen profession, but also spiritually, emotionally, relationally, physically and financially? Who are these “wise” people who seem to lead fulfilling and exciting (yet not carefree or perfect) lives?

Surprise! They really are not much different than you! They have simply searched for wisdom and, having found it, applied it as consistently as possible to every area of their lives. They have discovered God’s universal “ground rules” for successful living and have made a commitment to follow those rules--even when the going gets tough and life looks bleak. In short, these are average people like you and me who intentionally strive to celebrate life with purpose, passion, and power.

Their journey wasn’t easy – nothing worthwhile ever is. Success, fulfillment, and passion didn’t just fall into their laps. Take another look at the paragraph above and focus on some of the key words that describe actions these people had to take--words like “searched, applied, discovered,” and “commitment.” These words imply active, persistent participants in the quest for success in life, not passive observers waiting for their “luck” to change.

The good news is that, beginning today, you can use God on the Net to help you unlock the secrets that people such as these have discovered. God on the Net can:

Who can benefit from God on the Net?

Whether at the beginning, middle or latter stages of your life journey, God on the Net can be of service to you.

If you are a student, your whole life is ahead of you, but you may not have the foggiest idea what you want to do, or, more importantly, who and how you want to “be.” If so, this is a great time to begin sorting out these issues. Why be like most of us “oldsters,” who easily spent 10 to 20 years discovering that the path we chose (or more likely stumbled on by default) was a mind-numbing, soul-killing waste of time, energy and heart?

And even more important than your ultimate career choice will be your gaining the wisdom, insight and perspective to discover how your life – and the people in it – works. In other words, you will learn how to understand the causal equation (how cause and effect work) in every aspect of your life. Think of the advantages you’ll gain with that knowledge: you will actually be privy to the rules before you begin the game! This will be particularly beneficial to you when you see that everyone else around you is still blindly attempting to discern the nature of the very contest they’ve entered!

Now is also the moment to seize one of the greatest opportunities you’ll ever be offered: the ability to purposefully align your values, gifting, and mission in life so they are mutually supportive. With the additional energy that this congruence will provide, your life can be as passionate and powerful as it is purposeful. Better yet, you now have the chance to define your life’s purpose and identify your “gifts” from the beginning – not midway through – your life path.

If you’re a senior, it’s never too late to start getting in tune with real life right now, at whatever point you are on your journey. I think “retirement” is undoubtedly one of the most overrated concepts in American culture. We conjure up dreams of an endless season of bliss, but the cold, stark reality is usually quite different. We feel not just merely bored; we literally become bored to death. The secret that pension funds and social security actuaries know is that a high percentage of men die within a few years of retirement. Apparently, “useless” lives replace the expected “good life.”

This uniquely American phenomenon is all the more tragic because of the incalculable amounts of human resources (experience, expertise, wisdom and ingenuity) in multiple fields of endeavors that are lost to those who really need them – our younger generations.
Yet such a fate is all so avoidable. It’s never too late to define one’s purpose by identifying one’s gifts. Seniors have had more time than the rest of us to explore these areas, so you consequently have a natural advantage. But let’s be honest here; seniors also may have a natural drawback. Decades of self-imposed emotional numbness, stifling work, and multiple instances of invalidation and social “invisibility,” have left many wondering if they have anything to offer anyone – other than a side of fries to fast food customers!

The good news for seniors is that it’s not too late to get in touch with your heart and understand your true mission in life: to help someone else get through it with a little more wisdom and grace. Or, you may also be inclined to make your (or someone else’s) world a little bit kinder, brighter or more caring. This journey will offer you practical ways to refine or redesign your life’s mission as well as identify and share the special “gifts” I know God has given you.

As for the rest of us, we often feel burned out, hate our jobs or careers, struggle with our kids, endure divorce, suffer through incidents that all seem like part of an endless treadmill (think hamster wheel!). We also may feel that not only is life in general a drag, but that the future is just as bleak. We question our reasons for existing, or we “numb out” so we don’t have to feel our pain or face our fears as we stare blankly into the abysses of meaning that have become our lives. These feelings and experiences are not only natural; they’re almost unavoidable if you weren’t the lucky recipient (in the form of wise parents or mentors) of universal life principles culled from wisdom traditions covering thousands of years and a myriad of civilizations. What you need is exactly what God has this day presented you with: a “how to” manual showing you the way to live life with purpose, passion and personal power.

Perhaps, like many of us, you’re relatively satisfied, but you still find areas of your life you’d like to change, experience or act upon, feeling that success has eluded you in these areas. Or maybe you’re successful, but you’re not enjoying it like you anticipated. If so, you’re right on track, because that’s exactly why we created God on the Net: to provide you with the tools and insights necessary for the “breakthroughs” you require.

And that brings us back to where we began this article: having a personal instruction manual. The appeal of such a manual is that it can be tailored to the user, i.e., you. So you get to decide what you want to read and how best to utilize the various God on the Net articles, essays and other features collected in this book. Just remember to enjoy the journey, know you are not making it alone – and celebrate your life along the way!